Associations and indirect effects between LEGO® construction and mathematics performance

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Educational Psychology

Background:

• A known link exists between LEGO® construction ability and mathematics achievement.
• The underlying mechanisms, particularly spatial skills, are not well understood.
• Investigating concrete versus digital construction differences is important for understanding this association.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the spatial mechanisms linking LEGO® construction ability and mathematics achievement.
• To determine if these spatial mechanisms differ between concrete and digital LEGO® construction.
• To explore the role of specific spatial skills, like mental rotation, in this association.

Main Methods:

• A study involving 358 children aged 7-9 years was conducted between January 2020 and July 2021.
• Participants completed spatial and mathematics tasks, alongside either a concrete or digital LEGO® construction task.
• Mediation and moderated mediation analyses were used to examine the pathways between LEGO® construction, spatial skills, and mathematics achievement.

Main Results:

• Spatial skills mediated the relationship between LEGO® construction ability and mathematics achievement, explaining 8.4% to 26.6% of the variance.
• The indirect effect through mental rotation was the only pathway that significantly differed between the concrete and digital LEGO® construction conditions.
• This suggests that mental rotation plays a distinct role depending on the modality of LEGO® play.

Conclusions:

• Spatial skills, particularly mental rotation, are crucial mechanisms underlying the association between LEGO® construction and mathematics.
• The findings support theories of spatial-numerical associations.
• LEGO® construction, both concrete and digital, may offer potential for improving mathematics skills through targeted spatial training.