Young children as young as three years old use the same mental strategies as adults to visualize and manipulate objects in their minds, according to recent research conducted by scholars at Florida International University. The study, which took place between 2022 and 2023, involved 148 children aged three to seven and utilized eye-tracking technology to observe how they solved mental rotation problems.
Mental rotation is a spatial skill used when navigating environments, solving puzzles, or distinguishing between similar-looking letters. It allows individuals to mentally turn shapes or objects without physically moving them. This ability is important for learning in subjects such as math, science, and reading.
“We are scholars of developmental science and were curious to find out how children as young as 3 years old mentally rotate objects,” wrote Shannon Pruden, Professor of psychology at Florida International University, and Karinna Rodriguez, PhD candidate in psychology at the same institution.
The researchers showed each child a large picture—such as a fire truck—and two smaller versions with different orientations. Children were asked which smaller image matched the larger one after rotation. Eye movements were tracked during this process to determine whether children approached the task holistically—by rotating the entire object—or piecemeal—by focusing on individual parts.
“Some children focused on fewer parts of the object and spent less time studying its details. This suggests they used a holistic strategy, meaning they took in the whole image at once… Other children focused on parts of the object and spent more time studying its details,” explained Pruden and Rodriguez.
Findings indicated that even very young children often employ holistic strategies similar to those used by adults. The results may help educators and parents understand why some children struggle with tasks like reading; those who break images into pieces may also have difficulty distinguishing between letters such as “p” and “q,” which can be associated with dyslexia.
Parents are encouraged to support children’s spatial skills through activities involving puzzles or building blocks. Engaging with tangrams or other shape-based toys can help develop these abilities from an early age.
Research like this informs better design for educational tools and early STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) activities. “By directly observing children’s problem solving in real time, we can develop better ways for educators and toy makers to support strong spatial thinking from an early age,” stated Pruden and Rodriguez.
The article originally appeared in The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.
