Early spatial skills predict the development of later spatial and mathematical skills. Yet, it is unclear how comprehension of the words that capture spatial relations, words like behind and under, might be associated with children's early spatial and mathematics skills. The current study addressed this question by conducting a moderated mediation model to test the potential moderating effects of group factors, such as socioeconomic status (SES) and gender, on the possible mediation of spatial language comprehension on the association between spatial skill and mathematics performance. In total, 192 3-year-olds were tested on a battery of assessments, including a novel Spatial Language Comprehension Task, a test of spatial skills (2- and 3-dimensional trials of the Test of Spatial Assembly [2D and 3D TOSA, respectively]), and a composite of 2 mathematical assessments. The results indicate that this novel Spatial Language Comprehension Task is a reliable measure useful for examining group differences and the early space-math link. Specifically, higher-SES preschoolers and females had higher spatial language comprehension compared with their lower-SES peers and males, respectively. These SES and gender disparities in spatial language comprehension are concerning, given the strong association between spatial language comprehension and mathematics skills. Additionally, spatial language comprehension mediated the association between spatial skill and mathematics performance for females only. Future work should examine the potential causal role that spatial language comprehension may have in concurrent and later spatial and mathematics skills. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

中文翻译：

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三岁儿童的空间语言理解与数学和空间表现的联系。

早期的空间技能可以预测后期空间和数学技能的发展。然而，目前还不清楚对捕捉空间关系的单词的理解，比如后面和下面这样的单词，可能与儿童早期的空间和数学技能有关。目前的研究通过进行调节中介模型来解决这个问题，以测试社会经济地位 (SES) 和性别等群体因素对空间语言理解对空间技能和数学成绩之间关联的可能中介作用的潜在调节作用。总共有 192 名 3 岁儿童接受了一系列评估，包括新的空间语言理解任务、空间技能测试（空间组装测试的 2 维和 3 维试验 [2D 和 3D TOSA，分别]），和 2 个数学评估的组合。结果表明，这项新颖的空间语言理解任务是一种可靠的衡量标准，可用于检查群体差异和早期的空间数学联系。具体来说，SES 较高的学龄前儿童和女性分别与 SES 较低的同龄人和男性相比，具有更高的空间语言理解能力。考虑到空间语言理解和数学技能之间的密切关联，空间语言理解中的这些社会经济地位和性别差异令人担忧。此外，空间语言理解仅介导了女性空间技能与数学成绩之间的关联。未来的工作应该研究空间语言理解在并发和以后的空间和数学技能中可能具有的潜在因果作用。