Showing papers on "Spatial ability published in 1978"

Mental rotations, a group test of three-dimensional spatial visualization.

Abstract: A new paper-and-pencil test of spatial visualization was constructed from the figures used in the chronometric study of Shepard and Metzler (1971). In large samples, the new test displayed substantial internal consistency (Kuder-Richardson 20 = .88), a test-retest reliability (.83), and consistent sex differences over the entire range of ages investigated. Correlations with other measures indicated strong association with tests of spatial visualization and virtually no association with tests of verbal ability.

Mental rotation validation of two spatial ability tests.

Abstract: Three tests of spatial ability — speeded mental rotation and the Card Rotation and Revised Minnesota Form Board Tests — were examined with 32 college students. The slope of the linear function relating response time to angle of rotation in the mental rotation task was stimulus-dependent, increasing with stimulus symmetry. Males strongly dominated females on the Card Rotation Test and in speed of mental rotation, but not on the Minnesota Form Board Test or in the intercept of the judgment-time by angle-of-rotation plot. Practice with the simple forms used in the mental rotation task substantially improved scores with the many more complex forms used in the Card Rotation Test, but did not improve scores on the Minnesota Form Board Test. These results are not due to speed-accuracy tradeoff strategy differences. They suggest that “spatial ability” is not unitary and that test-based sex differences in spatial ability largely reflect differences in rotation speed or in a factor underlying rotation speed.

Spatial Problem-Solving Strategies as Functions of Sex:

Abstract: Sex differences in spatial ability may be related to different problem-solving methods. Two spatial tests, Choosing A Path and Witkin's Rod and Frame Test, and related strategy questionnaires were given to 50 male and 50 female adults. Multivariate analyses of variance on the strategy questionnaires were significant. Women were more likely to use concrete and unorganized methods and to give up or skip problems. Spearman correlations between the males' and females' rank orders of strategies were high and significant, so that both similarities and differences between the sexes were demonstrated.

Characterizing Spatial Ability: Different Mental Processes Reflected in Accuracy and Latency Scores.

Abstract: : Recent experimental studies have analyzed the time to perform tasks patterned after standard tests of spatial ability. Based on these analyses, information-processing models have been developed suggesting that subjects work through a sequence of component mental processes (e.g., code, transform, match) to perform spatial test items. If these models are correct, then response latencies, especially estimates of component-process durations, may be the best measures of spatial ability. By contrast, traditional psychometric analyses of these tasks have consistently used overall accuracy scores as measures of spatial ability. A model of the relationship between traditional accuracy measures of spatial ability and theoretically based latency measures is proposed. In this model overall accuracy and mean latency are viewed as composite scores consisting of the product (accuracy) or sum (latency) of component-process parameters. Three experiments investigated the relationship between spatial accuracy and latency scores, and established some psychometric properties (reliability, correlation across tests, predictive validity) of various measures. While accuracy and mean latency scores each proved to be reliable and consistent across different tests, the two measures were virtually independent. Further analyses using component-process latency scores suggest that different mental processes influence overall accuracy and mean latency. One hypothesis consistent with the data is that spatial accuracy scores reflect the ability to accurately code a pictorial stimulus, but mean latency scores on the same items reflect the ability to mentally transform the code. Implication for ability testing are discussed. (Author)

Spatial deficit in familial left-handed children.

Abstract: This study was designed to evaluate the hypothesis that familial left-handed children who presumably have bilateral representation of language ability should show an impairment in spatial ability. Children, whose average age was 8 yr. and of whom 22 were right-handed, 11 familial left-handed, and 11 non-familial left-handed, were tested on verbal subtests of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children--Revised, i.e., Vocabulary and Similarities and on spatial subtests, i.e., Block Design and Object Assembly. The results did not support the hypothesis that the spatial ability of familial left-handed children would be worse than their verbal ability. However, there was modest support for the hypothesis that familial left-handers were worse in spatial ability than right-handers.

A comment on Jensen's note on sex linkage and race differences in spatial ability.

Abstract: Several criticisms of Jensen's hypothesis on sex linkage and race differences in spatial ability are raised. Data on whether blacks have a deficit in spatial ability are inconsistent. Whether there are X-linked influences on spatial ability has been questioned recently. Two studies provide data inconsistent with Jensen's hypothesis.

Sex linkage and race differences in spatial ability: A reply

Abstract: Stevens and Hyde have questioned only the empirical evidence relevant to Jensen's formulation of a genetic hypothesis to explain race and sex differences in spatial visualization ability, rather than the formulation of the hypothesisper se, which at present remains the only non-ad hoc hypothesis concerning these phenomena, which are admittedly in need of further empirical investigation. The formulation of potentially falsifiable hypotheses derived from genetic theory is the surest means for advancing knowledge in behavioral genetics.

Evaluation of the cognitive goals of OZNAKI: enhancement of spatial projective abilities

Abstract: The OZNAKI Project applies cognitive goals to the design of TINY robotics languages and sequences of lessons in which students program simple robots and TV "block" graphics. One such lesson sequence, the "Projection Module", has been designed to emphasise "projection", a fundamental spatial ability. The course was evaluated in a study involving students aged 8 to 13 years. Experimental and control groups consisted of students matched by age, class, and spatial ability (measured by pre-test), with no previous OZNAKI experience. While the experimental group participated in OZNAKI lessons the control group had only their usual maths lessons. The pre- and post-tests took the form of individual Piagetian interviews with the primary school students, and multi-choice questionnaires with the junior high school students, thus giving two distinct studies. Significant enhancement of spatial abilities was found for the experimental group in both the primary and the secondary studies.

Sex Differences in Spatial Ability: A Critique:

Abstract: This paper examines the controversy surrounding the two main problem areas of this field. The first problem is the definition and description of spatial ability, there being concern over precisely what is measured by different tests, and the lack of independence of such tests. The second area deals with the aetiology of sex differences in spatial ability. The most compelling current theory, that of a recessive gene influence, has certain anomalies which require additional factors, such as sex-typing or hormonal limitation, to be brought in to complete the explanation, although these too require further clarification. Searching for a cause of sex differences without an understanding of the cognitive strategies involved would seem to be a sterile pursuit, and it is proposed that an analysis of spatial problem solving (e.g. in mental rotation) will shed more light on individual differences, set in the context of genetic and environmental influences.

Cognitive style and interhemispheric differentiation in the eeg

Abstract: The field-dependence-independence cognitive style, that component of the psychological differentiation dimension which subsumes spatial ability and certain aspects of personality and social behavior, was found to be associated with variations between individuals in the extent of differentiation of EEG activity between the two hemispheres. Fluctuations over time in integrated EEG amplitudes recorded from the left and right hemispheres were more similar to each other (i.e., less differentiated) in individuals with a field-dependent cognitive style than in those who were field independent.

Spatial perception in normal and psychotic people

Abstract: 17 normal and 17 psychotic subjects, including schizophrenic, depressive, and delusional patients, were given a modified Arc-Circle Matching Test of spatial perception. There was no significant difference between the performance of the psychotic group and that of the control group in left-hand, right-hand, and total scores in this tactile test of spatial ability. Differences between males and females and between dextrals and non-dextrals were nonsignificant. Nevertheless, for all subjects, the left-hand scores were significantly superior to right-hand scores.