{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,2]],"date-time":"2026-10-02T01:34:41Z","timestamp":1790904881972,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":48,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,19]],"date-time":"2026-04-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1776556800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000038","name":"Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["14367"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["14367"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000038","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"award":["14367"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["14367"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01h531d29","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Behavioral Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Challenges remain in developing a comprehensive understanding of spatial cognition, including gender and developmental differences, partly due to limitations of well-established spatial measures. Many traditional tasks face accessibility constraints and are not well suited for use across broad age ranges, populations, or ability levels. The present study introduced two game-based tasks, Q-bitz\u00ae and Spot it!\u00ae, designed to assess mental rotation and object location memory, respectively. We examined whether these game-based measures meaningfully complement established spatial tests, the Mental Rotation Test (MRT) and the Object Location Memory (OLM) task, across a wide age range (7\u201379 years, N = 114). Results indicated that MRT scores were strongly related to Q-bitz performance, whereas OLM scores were strongly related to Spot it! performance, supporting the convergent validity of the game-based tasks. Notably, gender-specific patterns emerged in the relationships among spatial measures, suggesting differences in spatial function. Age was associated with performance on speeded tasks (Q-bitz and Spot it!) but not with accuracy-based MRT or OLM performance. Together, these findings demonstrate that game-based assessments capture meaningful spatial constructs and reveal gender-specific patterns across the lifespan, providing a practical and ecologically valid approach for advancing research on spatial cognition.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/bs16040607","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,20]],"date-time":"2026-04-20T09:37:42Z","timestamp":1776677862000},"page":"607","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Game-Based Assessment of Spatial Cognition Across a Wide Age Range"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3654-730X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Daniela E.","family":"Aguilar Ramirez","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education, University of Lethbridge, 4401 University Drive, Lethbridge, AB T1K 3M4, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zitong","family":"Wu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education, University of Lethbridge, 4401 University Drive, Lethbridge, AB T1K 3M4, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Catalina","family":"Basualto San Martin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education, University of Lethbridge, 4401 University Drive, Lethbridge, AB T1K 3M4, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7972-791X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Robbin","family":"Gibb","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neuroscience, University of Lethbridge, 4401 University Drive, Lethbridge, AB T1K 3M4, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7338-9940","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Claudia L. R.","family":"Gonzalez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education, University of Lethbridge, 4401 University Drive, Lethbridge, AB T1K 3M4, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,19]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2269","DOI":"10.1007\/s00221-020-05894-9","article-title":"An evaluation of visuospatial skills using hands-on tasks","volume":"238","author":"Blinch","year":"2020","journal-title":"Experimental Brain Research"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e22155","DOI":"10.1002\/dev.22155","article-title":"One brick at a time: Building a developmental profile of spatial abilities","volume":"63","author":"Blinch","year":"2021","journal-title":"Developmental Psychobiology"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1579","DOI":"10.1007\/s00221-022-06363-1","article-title":"Differential effects of aging on spatial abilities","volume":"240","author":"Blinch","year":"2022","journal-title":"Experimental Brain Research"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"339","DOI":"10.2466\/pms.1999.89.1.339","article-title":"Development of sex differences in spatial memory","volume":"89","author":"Barnfield","year":"1999","journal-title":"Perceptual and Motor Skills"},{"key":"ref_5","first-page":"1","article-title":"Fiber arts require spatial skills: How a stereotypically feminine practice can help us understand spatial skills and improve spatial learning","volume":"88","author":"Gunderson","year":"2023","journal-title":"Sex Roles"},{"key":"ref_6","first-page":"24","article-title":"Cerebral commissurotomy in man","volume":"212","author":"Bogen","year":"1965","journal-title":"Scientific American"},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1894","DOI":"10.1037\/dev0001098","article-title":"Three-year-olds\u2019 spatial language comprehension and links with mathematics and spatial performance","volume":"56","author":"Bower","year":"2020","journal-title":"Developmental Psychology"},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Castro-Alonso, J. 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