It is a "small world": Relations between performance on five spatial tasks and five mathematical tasks in...

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Science
• Psychology
• Educational Psychology

Background:

• The relationship between spatial and mathematical reasoning is well-established in cognitive science.
• A key question is whether this link is domain-general or task-specific.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate unique relationships between specific spatial and mathematical tasks.
• To determine the structure of the spatial-mathematical relation.

Main Methods:

• Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used on two datasets (N=391, N=364).
• Multidimensional scaling and network analyses were performed on combined data.
• Five spatial and five mathematical tasks were assessed.

Main Results:

• A two-factor model (spatial and mathematical) with significant cross-domain loadings was identified and replicated.
• Network analysis revealed distinct spatial and mathematical clusters interconnected by a geometry and spatial sense task.
• The identified links formed a "small-world network" structure.

Conclusions:

• The spatial-mathematical relation is not entirely domain-general, with specific task interdependencies.
• Understanding these unique links is crucial for spatial training and its transfer to mathematical tasks.