Effects of a One-Hour Creative Dance Training on Mental Rotation Performance in Primary School Aged Children

Petra Jansen, Stefanie Richter

Abstract


The study presented here investigated the influence of one-hour creative dance training on the spatial ability of mental rotation. Two groups of first and second graders solved a paper-pencil mental rotation test. Afterwards, one group received one lesson of creative dance training while the other group attended the regular physical education lesson. At the end of the short training period all children solved the mental rotation test again. The results show that the dance-training group improved their mental rotation performance more than the physical education group. This study expands our further studies where we have shown that five weeks of creative dance training enhances mental rotation performance (Jansen, Kellner, & Rieder, 2013). Further studies have to be conducted which investigate the short-term effects of different kinds of physical activity on different cognitive functions and their relation to academic performance.


Keywords


mental rotation; school-aged children; motor performance; creative dance; regular sports class.

Full Text:

PDF

References


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. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/jocn.2009.21351

Best, J. (2010). Effects of physical activity on children`s executive function: Contributions of experimental research on aerobic exercise. Developmental Review, 30, 331-351. doi: http://10.1016/j.dr.2010.08.001

Bläsing, B., & Schack, T. (2012) Mental representation of spatial movement parameters in dance. Spatial Cognition and Computation, 12, 111-132. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13875868.2011.626095

Blüchel, M., Lehmann, J., Kellner, J., & Jansen, P. (2013). The improvement of mental rotation performance in school-aged children after a two weeks motor-training. Educational Psychology, 33, 75-86. doi: http://10.1080/01443410.2012.707612

Casey, M. B., Nuttall, R., Pezaris, E., & Benbow, C. P. (1995). The influence of spatial ability on gender differences in mathematics college entrance test scores across diverse samples. Developmental Psychology, 31, 697-705. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.31.4.697

Coubard, O.A., Duretz, S., Lefebvre, V., Lapalus, P., & Ferrufino, P. (2011). Practice of contemporary dance improves cognitive flexibility in aging. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 3, 1-12. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnagi.2011.00013

Dror, I.E., Kosslyn, S.M., & Waag, W.L. (1993). Visual-spatial abilities of pilots. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78, 763-773. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.78.5.763

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: http:// 10.1080/15248370902966719

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. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/01.hjr.0000129740.30593.18

Hegarty, M., & Kozhevnikov, M. (1999). Types of visual-spatial representations and mathematical problem solving. Journal of Educational Psychology, 91, 684-689. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.91.4.684

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.

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: http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ce.2013.46060

Jansen, P., Lange, L., & Heil, M. (2011). The influence of juggling on mental rotation performance in children. Biomedical Human Kinetics, 3, 18-22. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/v10101-011-0005-6

Jansen, P., Schmelter, A., Kasten, L., & Heil, M. (2011). Impaired mental rotation performance in overweight children. Appetite, 56, 766-769. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2011.02.021

Jansen, P. & Pietsch, S. (2010). Physical Activity improves mental rotation performance. Creative Education, 1, 58-61. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ce.2010.11009

Jansen, P., Schmelter, A., Quaiser-Pohl, C., Neuburger, S., & Heil, M. (2013). Mental rotation performance in primary school age children: Are there gender differences in chronometric tests? Cognitive Development, 28, 51-62. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cogdev.2012.08.005

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(31), 1-9. doi: http:// 10.3389/fnagi.2010.00031

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: http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3333646

Lehmann, J., Quaiser-Pohl, C., & Jansen, P. (2014). Correlation of motor skill, mental rotation and working memory in 3- to 6 years old children. European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 4, 1-14. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17405629.2014.888995

Mc Kee, K., & Hackney, M. (2013). The effects of adapted tango on spatial cognition and disease severity in parkinson`s disease. Journal of Motor Behavior, 45, 519-529. doi: http:// 10.1080/00222895.2013.834288

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: http:// 10.1016/j.paid.2011.02.017

Overby, L.Y. (1990). The use of imagery by dance teachers- Development and implementation of two research instruments. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, 61, 24-27.

Peper, E., & Lin, I.-M. (2010). Increase or decrease depression: How body postures influence your energy level. Biofeedback, 40, 125-130. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.5298/1081-5937-40.3.01

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: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/87565640701539626

Van Garderen, M. (2006). Spatial visualization, visual imagery, and mathematical problem solving of students with varying abilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 39, 496–506. doi: http://10.1177/00222194060390060201

Voyer D., Voyer S., & Bryden, M. P. (1995). Magnitude of sex differences in spatial abilities: a meta-analysis and consideration of critical variables. Psychological Bulletin, 117, 25–270. doi: http://10.1037//0033-2909.117.2.250

Wiedenbauer, G., & Jansen-Osmann, P. (2008). Manual training of mental rotation in children. Learning and Instruction, 18, 30-41. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2006.09.009


Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


e-ISSN: 1694-2116

p-ISSN: 1694-2493