Examinando por Autor "Meneghetti, Chiara"

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ERMENTAL: A Simple Web Environment to Design and Teach the Effects of Cognitive Training Experiments
(Springer, 2020-08-26) Martínez-Molina, Agustín; Fernández-Méndez, Laura M.; Meneghetti, Chiara; Jansen, Petra; Plaza, Victoria; Contreras, María José
We have developed a free, simple and usable online system (called ERMENTAL) with which researchers, teachers and university students can study the effects of training on cognitive processes (e.g., visuospatial as mental rotation and visuospatial memory). So far, similar platforms are usually paid or require specialized training for their use. ERMENTAL allows, in an unsupervised way (i.e., outside the laboratory), to study the effectiveness of cognitive training both individually (according to initial levels of ability) and at group level (e.g., between sexes or academic STEM disciplines: Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics). This approach is derived from the authors’ previous research on training in visuospatial skills, the use of cognitive strategies, the analysis of individual and gender differences. The initial experience with the system was positive. Both teachers and supervised students required little or no training to create their own experiments. This type of computer development should be continued and supported not only research purposes, but also for teaching future professionals and researchers.
Mathematical achievement: the role of spatial and motor skills in 6-8 year-old children
(2020) Fernández-Méndez, Laura M.; Contreras, María José; Mammarella, Irene C.; Feraco, Tommaso; Meneghetti, Chiara
Several studies have tried to establish the factors that underlie mathematical ability across development. Among them, spatial and motor abilities might play a relevant role, but no studies jointly contemplate both types of abilities to account for mathematical performance. The present study was designed to observe the roles of spatial and motor skills in mathematical performance. A total of 305 children aged between 6 and 8 years took part in this study. A generalized linear regression model with mathematical performance as a dependent variable was performed. Results revealed that Block design (as a visuospatial reasoning measure) accounted for mathematical performance, especially among 6- and 7-year-olds but not in 8-year-olds. After controlling for the effect of the block design, mental rotation and manual dexterity predicted mathematical performance. These findings highlight the role of underlying cognitive (spatial) and motor abilities in supporting mathematical achievement in primary school children
Monitoring the Own Spatial Thinking in Second Grade of Primary Education in a Spanish School: Preliminary Study Analyzing Gender Differences
(MDPI, 2020) Contreras; Meneghetti, Chiara; Uttal, David H.; Fernández-Méndez, Laura M.; Rodán, Antonio; Montoro, Pedro R.
Previous studies on metacognitive performance have explored children’s abilities during primary school (7–11 years) in abstract and mathematical reasoning tasks. However, there have been no studies evaluating the metamemory processes with spatial tasks in primary school children, and even more generally, only a few studies have explored spatial metacognition in adults. Taking as a preliminary study a Spanish school, the present work explores the validity of the confidence judgment model when thinking about one’s own performance in a spatial test, for boys and girls in Second Year of Primary Education (mean age of 7 years). A total of 18 boys and 15 girls applied a 4-point scale to evaluate, item by item, the confidence of their responses in the Spatial aptitude test “E” of the EFAI-1 (Factorial Assessment of Intellectual Abilities to mentally process visual stimuli). Accessibility and Accuracy Indexes were calculated for each item of the spatial task. The e ect of gender was analyzed too. The tasks were administered in small groups; at the end examiners interviewed each participant, performing the confidence judgment task, item by item, of the EFAI-1 previously answered. The results (analyses carried out by SPSS) showed a high mean confidence (3 mean points out of a maximum of 4), without finding any significant di erences either in the spatial performance or in the mean confidence rating between boys and girls. A significant relationship between confidence judgments and spatial task performance accuracy was found. The relationship between confidence judgments and spatial performance cannot be confirmed. The procedure adapted for testing spatial judgments about the own responses has been useful for showing the well calibrated perception about performance at this stage. The implications of the results of this exploratory study and the potential of the application of the procedure to promote thought about one’s own spatial performance and the development of strategies that modulate the e ective approach of this type of spatial tasks are discussed within an educational approach.
Visuospatial and Motor Ability Contributions in Primary School Spatial Geometry
(DIGITAL.CSIC, 2024) Fernández-Méndez, Laura M.; Meneghetti, Chiara; Martínez-Molina, Agustín; Mammarella, Irene C.; Contreras, María José
Geometry is a subject frequently associated with mathematical performance or science interest, as well as with reasoning and spatial skills. Within the school context, geometry achievement has been connected with visuospatial abilities but less frequently with motor skills, where the embodied cognition approach seems especially important to explain the emergence of complex cognitive representations based on motor processes. To date, few studies have assessed the contribution of both spatial and motor abilities to predict geometry performance. Thus, in this study, we aimed to examine the role of visuospatial (mental rotation and visualization) and motor skills (fine and gross motor skills) in spatial geometry achievement in primary schoolers. A total of 215 students from the second and third year of basic education participated in this study. The participants were enrolled in several tasks that involved spatial, motor and cognitive abilities. A multiple linear regression model showed that the geometry variable was explained by age, mental rotation and manual dexterity at 22%. The results suggest that geometry performance was supported by specific spatial skills (mental rotation) and fine motor (manual dexterity), but not gross motor ability in primary schoolers.