Updating the Spatial Activities and Videogame Survey for Use in Development Research

Abstract

Childhood experiences and activities, including sports, videogames, and toys, have long been of interest in understanding cognitive development and later individual differences. In particular, the malleability of spatial reasoning suggests that early experiences, including a variety of spatial activities, may have a significant impact on the development of students’ spatial ability skills. In the present study, we sought to update the most widely used spatial activity survey and propose a survey of videogame usage. Both surveys were administered to a large sample of adults with children aged 7 to 14, with a sample (N = 1210) diverse in race, ethnicity, and gender. We explored the survey’s descriptives, scale design, and factor structure to support future use.