A sample of 116 children (M=6 years 7 months) in Grade 1 was randomly assigned to experimental (n=60) and control (n=56) groups, with equal numbers of boys and girls in each group. The experimental group received a program aimed at improving representation and transformation of visuospatial information, whereas the control group received a substitute program. All children were administered mental rotation tests before and after an intervention program and a Global-Local Processing Strategies test before the intervention. The results revealed that initial gender differences in spatial ability disappeared following treatment in the experimental but not in the control group. Gender differences were moderated by strategies used to process visuospatial information. Intervention and processing strategies were essential in reducing gender differences in spatial abilities.

The main objectives of this study were to investigate: (a) gender differences in spatial abilities of kindergartners, (b) the effects of a teaching, using dynamic assessment (DA), on cognitive modifiability of spatial abilities, and (c) the effects of task characteristics (rotation, symmetry, complexity) on mental rotation performance. Thirty two boys and 32 kindergarten girls, 5 to 6 years old, were administered the Spatial Relations subtest (PMA), the Mental Rotation subtest (CMB), the Visual Figure Ground test, and the Dynamic Embedded Figures Test. The results revealed a significant pre- to postteaching improvement in mental rotation and spatial visualization in both gender groups. Boys showed higher performance than girls on easy preteaching mental rotation tasks but the girls closed the gap on the postteaching test. On difficult mental rotation tasks (e.g., higher rotation or higher complexity) boys and girls showed similar pre-teaching performance, but boys showed higher performance than girls on the postteaching test. Pearson correlations between spatial and verbal abilities were higher among girls than among boys — a result which was explained by the girls’ tendency to use their verbal abilities for solving spatial problems, especially for the spatial visualization tasks. Boys tended to separate between the two domains and use a holistic spatial strategy.

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