Visual–Spatial Ability Predicts Academic Achievement Through Arithmetic and Reading Abilities

Saifang Liu , Wenjun Wei , Yuan Chen , Peyre Hugo (1, 2, 3) , Jingjing Zhao

1 UPCité - Université Paris Cité
2 AP-HP Hôpital universitaire Robert-Debré [Paris]
3 LSCP - Laboratoire de sciences cognitives et psycholinguistique

This study aimed to investigate how visual–spatial ability predicted academic achievement through arithmetic and reading abilities. Four hundred and ninety-nine Chinese children aged from 10.1 to 11.2 years were recruited and measured visual–spatial, arithmetic, and reading abilities. Their mathematical and Chinese language academic achievements were collected for two consecutive school years, respectively, during the same year as cognitive tests and 1 year after the cognitive tests. Correlation analysis indicated that visual–spatial, arithmetic, and reading abilities and academic achievements were significantly correlated with each other. The structural equation modelling analyses showed that there were two paths from visual–spatial ability to academic achievement: a major path mediated by arithmetic ability and a minor serial mediation path from visual–spatial ability to arithmetic ability to reading ability, then to academic achievement. Results shed light on the importance of visual–spatial ability in education.

Keywords: visual-spatial ability; reading ability; arithmetic ability; academic achievement; education

Domains: Cognitive science

Saifang Liu, Wenjun Wei, Yuan Chen, Peyre Hugo, Jingjing Zhao. Visual–Spatial Ability Predicts Academic Achievement Through Arithmetic and Reading Abilities. Frontiers in Psychology, 2021, 11, ⟨10.3389/fpsyg.2020.591308⟩. ⟨hal-03243367⟩