title: The relation between children's constructive play activities, spatial ability, and mathematical word problem-solving performance: a mediation analysis in sixth-grade students.
abstract: The scientific literature shows that constructive play activities are positively related to children's spatial ability. Likewise, a close positive relation is found between spatial ability and mathematical word problem-solving performances. The relation between children's constructive play and their performance on mathematical word problems is, however, not reported yet. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether spatial ability acted as a mediator in the relation between constructive play and mathematical word problem-solving performance in 128 sixth-grade elementary school children. This mediating role of spatial ability was tested by utilizing the current mediation approaches suggested by Preacher and Hayes (2008). Results showed that 38.16% of the variance in mathematical word problem-solving performance is explained by children's constructive play activities and spatial ability. More specifically, spatial ability acted as a partial mediator, explaining 31.58% of the relation between constructive play and mathematical word problem-solving performance.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Psychology and Education, Department of Educational Neuroscience, VU University Amsterdam, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Meike
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Oostermeijer
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Psychology and Education, Department of Educational Neuroscience, VU University Amsterdam, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Anton J H
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Boonen
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Psychology and Education, Department of Educational Neuroscience, VU University Amsterdam, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jelle
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jolles
keywords: constructive play; elementary school; mathematical word problem-solving performance; mental rotation; spatial ability
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