Young children’s mental rotation and the relation with fluid intelligence, block play, and gender.

Spatial skills such as mental rotation are an integral part of children’s cognitive development and are referred to as gatekeepers to STEM. Mental rotation emerges in children as young as 4 years of age and is malleable. However, it remains unclear when these gender differences emerge and whether intelligence is related to mental rotation in the preschool years. Additionally, finding ways to foster mental rotation might help to alleviate possible early gender differences. This study aims at contributing to this research area by investigating playful approaches to foster mental rotation in girls and boys in an experimental design with three measurement points, employing a sample of 5- to 6-year-old preschool children. In addition to this, we are interested in exploring the relation of gender and fluid intelligence with mental rotation. Thus, a playful intervention with different amounts of guidance provided by an adult (verbal + material scaffolds, material scaffolds, and free play) was employed. Results showed that mental rotation increased more in boys than in girls and that playful interventions fostered children’s mental rotation. However, girls in the group with the highest guidance showed the least gains compared to all other groups, while boys profited most from this group. Girls who played freely or with little guidance showed similar increases in mental rotation as the boys. Fluid intelligence was related to mental rotation in preschool children. Play can foster mental rotation, but different amounts of guidance seem to be crucial for girls and boys.