Mental rotation, the cognitive process of moving an object in mind to predict how it looks in a new orientation, is coupled to intelligence, learning, and educational achievement. On average, adolescent and adult males solve mental rotation tasks slightly better (i.e., faster and/or more accurate) than females. When such behavioral differences…

With the rapid development of virtual technologies, there is a growing body of literature investigating the impact of virtual technologies on students' spatial ability. However, it remains unclear whether virtual technologies can effectively improve students' spatial ability. Therefore, this meta-analysis was conducted to synthesize the findings…

Much recent research has focused on the relation between spatial skills and mathematical skills, which has resulted in widely reported links between these two skill sets. However, the magnitude of this relation is unclear. Furthermore, it is of interest whether this relation differs in size based on key demographic variables, such as gender and…

Spatial reasoning, recognised as playing a critical role across STEM disciplines, is gaining prominence in mathematics education, not only as fundamental to mathematics, but also as embodied mathematical activity. In this paper, we discuss spatial reasoning and its embodiment in mathematics. We then present a systematic review of the topics as…

Using meta-analytic techniques, we examined systematically the evidence linking friendship to academically related outcomes, asking: To what extent is friendship related to academic performance and to academically related cognitive skills? Based on 22 studies that yielded 81 effect sizes and 28 independent samples, we examined relations between…

Two experiments were conducted to investigate how children remember distance and location of landmarks in a large-scale environment. The effects of cueing and suggesting a step-counting strategy on four- and nine-year-old children's ability to recall events on a jogging course were explored. (Author/PP)