Parents' Spatial Language Mediates a Sex Difference in Preschoolers' Spatial-Language Use

Overview

Journal Psychol Sci

Specialty Psychology

Date 2017 Sep 8

PMID 28880726

Citations 18

Authors

Shannon M Pruden

Susan C Levine

Affiliations

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Abstract

Do boys produce more terms than girls to describe the spatial world-that is, dimensional adjectives (e.g., big, little, tall, short), shape terms (e.g., circle, square), and words describing spatial features and properties (e.g., bent, curvy, edge)? If a sex difference in children's spatial-language use exists, is it related to the spatial language that parents use when interacting with children? We longitudinally tracked the development of spatial-language production in children between the ages of 14 and 46 months in a diverse sample of 58 parent-child dyads interacting in their homes. Boys produced and heard more of these three categories of spatial words, which we call "what" spatial types (i.e., unique "what" spatial words), but not more of all other word types, than girls. Mediation analysis revealed that sex differences in children's spatial talk at 34 to 46 months of age were fully mediated by parents' earlier spatial-language use, when children were 14 to 26 months old, time points at which there was no sex difference in children's spatial-language use.

Citing Articles

Direct and indirect effects of mother's spatial ability on child's spatial ability: What role does the home environment play?.

Garcia-Sanchez N, Dick A, Hayes T, Pruden S Dev Sci. 2024; 27(4):e13480.

PMID: 38321593 PMC: 11610750. DOI: 10.1111/desc.13480.

A Growth Mindset Message Leads Parents to Choose More Challenging Learning Activities.

Tian J, Bennett-Pierre G, Tavassolie N, Newcombe N, Weinraub M, Hindman A J Intell. 2023; 11(10).

PMID: 37888425 PMC: 10607904. DOI: 10.3390/jintelligence11100193.

"You did a great job building that!" Links between parent-child prosocial talk and spatial language.

Hall L, Rengel M, Bowley H, Alvarez-Vargas D, Abad C, Overton D Dev Psychol. 2023; 59(9):1676-1690.

PMID: 37428740 PMC: 10535432. DOI: 10.1037/dev0001574.

"This is hard!" Children's and parents' talk about difficulty during dyadic interactions.

Bennett-Pierre G, Weinraub M, Newcombe N, Gunderson E Dev Psychol. 2023; 59(7):1268-1282.

PMID: 37199920 PMC: 10330425. DOI: 10.1037/dev0001555.

Toddler home math environment: Triangulating multi-method assessments in a U.S. Sample.

Miller P, Elliott L, Podvysotska T, Ptak C, Duong S, Fox D Front Psychol. 2023; 14:1105569.

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