Evidence for associations between spatial skills and mathematics has led to the argument that spatial visualization plays a role in mathematical calculation. However, there is no single accepted definition of what spatial visualization encompasses. Here, we investigated spatial visualization in the context of a mental imagery framework. We applied a component model of mental imagery, involving image generation, image maintenance, image transformation (measured using mental rotation), and image scanning, to determine associations between each component and mathematical calculation ability in primary school children (N = 92, age 6–11 years). We found that, after accounting for age, only mental rotation explained significant variation in mathematical calculation. Our findings advance theoretical understanding by demonstrating that spatial visualization definitions, applied to mathematics, should be refined to focus on transformation. This highlights the practical implication that transformation strategies are promising targets for future intervention work, rather than broad visualization strategies.

中文翻译：

---

重新想象数学：心理意象在解释儿童数学计算技能中的作用

空间技能与数学之间关联的证据导致了空间可视化在数学计算中发挥作用的论点。但是，对于空间可视化所包含的内容，没有单一的公认定义。在这里，我们在心理意象框架的背景下研究了空间可视化。我们应用心理意象的组件模型，涉及图像生成、图像维护、图像转换（使用心理旋转测量）和图像扫描，以确定每个组件与小学生数学计算能力之间的关联（N = 92，年龄 6-11 岁）。我们发现，在考虑到年龄之后，只有心理旋转才能解释数学计算的显着变化。我们的发现通过证明应用于数学的空间可视化定义应该改进以专注于转换，从而促进了理论理解。这突出了转型策略是未来干预工作的有希望的目标的实际含义，而不是广泛的可视化策略。