The relation between childhood spatial activities and spatial abilities in adulthood

This study investigated the relation between childhood spatial activities and cognitive gender differences in adults through the validation of the Childhood Activities Questionnaire developed by Cherney and Voyer (2010). A sample 01 403 (133 males, 270 females) undergraduates in Introductory Psychology courses at University of New Brunswick, NB, Canada and Creighton University, NE, USA completed verbal and spatial tests and recalled their involvement in childhood activities. Convergent and divergent validity were assessed by correlating spatial and masculine scales of the Activities Questionnaire with spatial and verbal measures. Spatial and masculine activities were correlated in the predicted direction with performance in spatial measures. Childhood spatial activities were a significant predictor of adult performance on the Water Level Test and math grades over and above the influence of gender. Results confirm the value of the Activities Questionnaire, and importance of childhood activities in promoting spatial skills in adulthood. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

本研究通过对切尔尼和沃耶（2010年）编制的《童年活动问卷》进行验证，探讨了童年空间活动与成年人认知性别差异之间的关系。加拿大新不伦瑞克省新不伦瑞克大学和美国内布拉斯加州克赖顿大学心理学导论课程的403名本科生（133名男性，270名女性）样本完成了语言和空间测试，并回忆了他们童年时参与的活动。通过将活动问卷的空间量表和男性化量表与空间和语言测量指标进行相关性分析，来评估聚合效度和区分效度。空间活动和男性化活动与空间测量中的表现呈预期方向的相关性。童年空间活动是成年人在水位测试和数学成绩方面表现的一个重要预测因素，且这种影响超过了性别的影响。研究结果证实了活动问卷的价值，以及童年活动在促进成年期空间技能方面的重要性。（C）2012爱思唯尔公司。保留所有权利。