AUTHOR=Chikha Anis Ben , Khacharem Aïmen , Trabelsi Khaled , Bragazzi Nicola Luigi TITLE=The Effect of Spatial Ability in Learning From Static and Dynamic Visualizations: A Moderation Analysis in 6-Year-Old Children JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology VOLUME=12 YEAR=2021 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.583968 DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2021.583968 ISSN=1664-1078 ABSTRACT=

Previous studies with adult human participants revealed mixed effects regarding the relation between spatial ability and visual instructions. In this study, we investigated this question in primary young children, and particularly we explored how young children with varying levels of spatial abilities integrate information from both static and dynamic visualizations. Children (M = 6.5 years) were instructed to rate their invested mental effort and reproduce the motor actions presented from static and dynamic 3D visualizations. The results indicated an interaction of spatial ability and type of visualization: high spatial ability children benefited particularly from the animation, while low spatial ability learners did not, confirming therefore the ability-as-enhancer hypothesis. The study suggests that an understanding of children spatial ability is essential to enhance learning from external visualizations.