The Improvement of Mental Rotation Performance in Second Graders after Creative Dance Training
ABSTRACT
The study presented here investigated the influence of creative dance training on mental rotation performance. Two groups of second graders solved a paper-pencil mental rotation test and a motor performance test. Afterwards one group received five weeks of normal physical education lessons, while the other group received five weeks of creative dance training. At the end of the training period all children solved the mental rotation again. The results show that the dance-training group improved their mental rotation performance more than the physical education group. Further studies should investigate whether this positive effect of creative dance training transfers to cognitive, social, and emotional skills, such as a possible enhancement of self-esteem.
KEYWORDS
Mental Rotation; School-Aged Children; Motor Performance; Creative Dance; Regular Sports Class
Mental Rotation; School-Aged Children; Motor Performance; Creative Dance; Regular Sports Class
Cite this paper
Jansen, P. , Kellner, J. & Rieder, C. (2013). The Improvement of Mental Rotation Performance in Second Graders after Creative Dance Training. Creative Education, 4, 418-422. doi: 10.4236/ce.2013.46060.
Jansen, P. , Kellner, J. & Rieder, C. (2013). The Improvement of Mental Rotation Performance in Second Graders after Creative Dance Training. Creative Education, 4, 418-422. doi: 10.4236/ce.2013.46060.
References
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Personality and Individual Differences, 50, 1238-1242. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2011.02.017 [19] Oswald, W. D., & Roth, E. (1987). Der Zahlen-Verbindungs-Test ZVT. Gottingen: Hogrefe. [20] Petermann, F. (2009). Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2 (M-ABC-2) (2.verand. Auflage). Frankfurt am Main, Pearson Assessment: Hrsg. [21] Reitan, R. M. (1956). Trail making test. Manual for administration, scoring, and interpretation. Indianapolis, IN: Indiana University Press. [22] Shepard, R. N., & Metzler, J. (1971). Mental rotation of three-dimensional objects. Science, 171, 701-703. doi:10.1126/science.171.3972.701 [23] Steggemann, Y., Engbert, K., & Weigelt, M.(2011). Selective effects of motor expertise in mental body rotation tasks: Comparing object based and perspective transformations. Brain and Cognition, 76, 97 105. doi:10.1016/j.bandc.2011.02.013 [24] Vernon, P. A. (1993). Der Zahlen-Verbindungstest and other trail making correlate of general intelligence. 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[1] Anguera, J. A., Reuter-Lorenz, P. A., Willingham, D. T., & Seidler, R. D. (2009). Contributions of spatial working memory to visuomotor learning. Journal of Neuroscience, 22, 1917-1930. [2] Blasing, B., & Schack, T. (2012) Mental representation of spatial movement parameters in dance. Spatial Cognition & Computation, 12, 111-132. doi:10.1080/13875868.2011.626095 [3] Coubard, O. A., Duretz, S., Lefebvre, V., Lapalus, P., & Ferrufino, P. Practice of contemporary dance improves cognitive flexibility in aging. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 3, 1-12. [4] Dror, I. E., Kosslyn, S. M., & Waag, W. L. (1993). Visual-spatial abilities of pilots. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78, 763-773. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.78.5.763 [5] Frick, A., Daum, M. M., Walser, S., & Mast, F. (2009). Motor processes in children’s mental rotation. Journal of Cognition and Development, 10, 18-40. doi:10.1080/15248370902966719 [6] Graf, C., Koch, B., Dordel, S., Schindler-Marlow, S., Icks, A., Schüller, A., Bjarnason-Wehrens, B., Tokarski, W., & Predel H. (2004). Physical activity, leisure habits and obesity in first-grade children. European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation: Official Journal of the European Society of Cardiology, Working Groups on Epidemiology & Prevention and Cardiac Rehabilitation and Exercise Physiology, 11, 284-290 [7] Hackney, M. E., & Earhart, G. M. (2010). Effects of dance on gait and balance in Parkinson’s disease: A comparison of partnered and non partnered dance movement. Neurorehailitation Neural Research, 24, 384-392. doi:10.1177/1545968309353329 [8] Hackney, M. E., & Earhart, G. M. (2010). Effects of dance on balance and gait in severe Parkinson disease: A case study. Disability Rehabilitation, 32, 679-684. doi:10.3109/09638280903247905 [9] Hegarty, M., & Kozhevnikov, M. (1999). Types of visual-spatial representations and mathematical problem solving. Journal of Educational Psychology, 91, 684-689. doi:10.1037/0022-0663.91.4.684 [10] Jansen, P., & Heil M. (2010). The relation between motor development and mental rotation ability in 5 to 6-year-old children. European Journal of Developmental Science, 4, 66-74. [11] Jansen, P., Lange, L., & Heil, M. (2011). The influence of juggling on mental rotation performance in children. Biomedical Human Kinetics, 3, 18-22. doi:10.2478/v10101-011-0005-6 [12] Jansen, P., Schmelter, A., Kasten, L., & Heil M. (2011). Impaired mental rotation performance in overweight children. Appetite, 56, 766-769. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2011.02.021 [13] Jansen, P., Titze, C., & Heil, M. (2009). The influence of juggling on mental rotation performance. International Journal of Sport Psych ology, 40, 351-359. [14] Jordan, K., Heinze, H.-J., Lutz, K., Kanowski, M., & Jancke, L. (2001). Cortical activations during the mental rotation of different visual objects. NeuroImage, 13, 143-152. doi:10.1006/nimg.2000.0677 [15] Kattenstroth, J. C., Kolankowska, I., Kalisch, T., & Dinse, H. (2010). Superior sensory, motor, and cognitive performance in elderly individuals with multi-year dancing activity. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 2, 1-9. [16] Keinanen, M., Hetland, L., & Winner, E. (2000). Teaching cognitive skills through dance: Evidence for near but not far transfer. Journal of Aesthetic Education, 34, 295-306. doi:10.2307/3333646 [17] Mammarella, N. (2011). Is there a “special relationship” between un conscious emotions and visual imagery? Evidence from a mental rotation test. Consciousness and Cognition, 20, 444-448. doi:10.1016/j.concog.2010.10.012 [18] Neuburger, S., Jansen, P., Heil, M., & Quaiser-Pohl, C. (2011). Gender differences in pre-adolescents’ mental rotation performance: Do they depend on grade and stimuli? Personality and Individual Differences, 50, 1238-1242. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2011.02.017 [19] Oswald, W. D., & Roth, E. (1987). Der Zahlen-Verbindungs-Test ZVT. Gottingen: Hogrefe. [20] Petermann, F. (2009). Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2 (M-ABC-2) (2.verand. Auflage). Frankfurt am Main, Pearson Assessment: Hrsg. [21] Reitan, R. M. (1956). Trail making test. Manual for administration, scoring, and interpretation. Indianapolis, IN: Indiana University Press. [22] Shepard, R. N., & Metzler, J. (1971). Mental rotation of three-dimensional objects. Science, 171, 701-703. doi:10.1126/science.171.3972.701 [23] Steggemann, Y., Engbert, K., & Weigelt, M.(2011). Selective effects of motor expertise in mental body rotation tasks: Comparing object based and perspective transformations. Brain and Cognition, 76, 97 105. doi:10.1016/j.bandc.2011.02.013 [24] Vernon, P. A. (1993). Der Zahlen-Verbindungstest and other trail making correlate of general intelligence. Personality and Individual Differences, 14, 35-40. doi:10.1016/0191-8869(93)90172-Y [25] Wexler, M., Kosslyn, S. M., & Bertholz, A. (1998). Motor processes in mental rotation. Cognition, 68, 77-94. doi:10.1016/S0010-0277(98)00032-8 [26] Wiedenbauer, G., & Jansen-Osmann, P. (2007). Mental rotation ability of children with spina bifida: What influence does manual rotation training have? Developmental Neuropsychology, 32, 809-824. doi:10.1080/87565640701539626 [27] Wiedenbauer, G., & Jansen-Osmann, P. (2008). Manual training of mental rotation in children. Learning and Instruction, 18, 30-41. doi:10.1016/j.learninstruc.2006.09.009