Data underlying the research of Relationship between block building skills and spatial ability in 5 to 6 years old children: The mediating role of visuospatial working memory

Children aged 5-6 years old (<em>N </em>= 62; 34 boys, 28 girls) completed behavioral assessments of block building skills (e.g., creating enclosed structures), spatial ability (e.g., creating a block structure similar to one in a picture), and visuospatial working memory (e.g., remembering the order in which the researcher tapped different blocks). As hypothesized, regression-based analyses showed that visuospatial working memory fully mediated the association between block building skills and spatial ability. That is, block building skills predicted visuospatial working memory, which in turn predicted spatial skills. The results enrich the literature on young children’s block play by identifying a mechanism by which block play is associated with spatial ability, and they have implications for designing interventions to promote spatial skills.

5至6岁儿童（N=62；男童34名，女童28名）完成了三项行为测评，涵盖积木搭建技能（如搭建封闭结构）、空间能力（如仿照图片搭建积木结构）以及视觉空间工作记忆（visuospatial working memory，如记住实验者敲击不同积木的顺序）。
正如研究假设所示，回归分析结果表明，视觉空间工作记忆在积木搭建技能与空间能力之间起到完全中介作用。具体而言，积木搭建技能可正向预测视觉空间工作记忆，而视觉空间工作记忆又可进一步预测空间技能。
本研究通过明确积木游戏与空间能力之间的关联机制，丰富了幼儿积木游戏领域的相关文献，其研究结果对设计以提升儿童空间技能为目标的干预方案具有重要指导意义。