The Assessment of Spatial Ability with a Single Computerized Test

Spatial (and geospatial) thinking has been well studied and recognized as an important ability of humans and especially for young people and young adults, who most of the times use it subconsciously, from interpreting maps and diagrams to navigating in familiar and non-familiar environments. However, spatial thinking ability is not easy to estimate, because spatial thinking is an amalgam of different factors (e.g. spatial perception, spatial orientation, spatial visualization, mental rotation etc.). Various tests have been developed, especially from teachers and psychologists, which in their majority assess one factor of spatial thinking, either at small scales or large scales, but no test has been developed yet from researchers engaged in the Geographic Information field to assess spatial thinking in a holistic way. So, this paper underlines the need to develop such a test.

International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 2013

Despite the increasingly recognized importance of spatial ability in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields, research to date has largely ignored distinctions in the criterion-related validity and subgroup differences associated with theoretically distinct spatial abilities. This study aims to enhance practical understanding by spotlighting a prominent military context as an example wherein specific spatial abilities may be both differentially relevant and differentially apt to result in adverse impact. Analyses compared the relative importance of (i) spatial orientation, (ii) visualization, (iii) closure flexibility, and (iv) perceptual speed for predicting U.S. Air Force pilot performance (N = 1440), and compared subgroup differences in a large applicant sample (N = 10,643). Given that specific spatial abilities vary substantially in the extent to which gender differences exist, this study highlights the practical implications associated with the choice of particular spatial ability measures in personnel selection.

The European Proceedings of Educational Sciences

Spatial ability (SA) refers to the ability to generate, retain and manipulate abstract visual images. From 1880 to 1940 SA was gradually understood and defined as an independent, unique ability and justly included as one of Gardner's types of intelligences. Later, Maier improved Gardner's model by distinguishing between five types of spatial abilities and intelligence: Spatial perception, Visualization, Mental rotation, Spatial relations and Spatial orientation. During the 70's and 80's the developmental attributes of the term were addressed. Those studies wished to understand how and when SA develops and naturally were directed mostly at children as subjects. Those studies revealed that SA is an essential ability to the development of mathematical skills. Later developmental studies addressed adult SA development and accordingly found that SA was a predictor of success in STEM fields of academic studies. Furthermore, during those years psychometric studies started to develop standardized tests to measure SA. Starting from the 80's and up to now, a great deal of research is being directed at technology and the way it influences SA development. These studies direct special attention at studying how new technologies such as computer games and VR affect SA measuring and training. The current research wishes to continue the rich tradition of this field of studies and draws attention to first year engineering and architecture students. It seeks to investigate how to best train their SA and the way this training will influence future achievements on both fields.

Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 1987

A battery of 10 computerized tests of spatial ability is described. It includes 5 tests that require reasoning about static spatial displays and 5 tests that require reasoning about dynamically displayed spatial information. An integrated software package for task presentation and data analysis is described, along with a summary of results from a validation study comparing performance on the computer-based tests with performance on standardized paper-and-pencil tests of spatial abilities. Finally, research applications of the current battery are discussed.

1988

Whether or not a short-term intervention program could improve performance on standardized figural analogy and surface development tests was studied through training 10 students from an introductory psychology class with relatively low scores on the figural analogies subtest of the Cognitive Abilities Test. An additional 10 students served as controls. Training, designed to improve spatial skills, strategic test-taking skills, and analogy solution skills, consisted of seven hour-long sessions, all but one of which were individualized, and included practice tests, task practice, and a computerized spatial game. Experimental and control groups did not differ in scores on pretests. No differences were found for the experimental group on the figural analogy posttest but a significant effect of training was found for the surface development test, generally considered more difficult. Follow-up testing at 2 months confirmed effects of training. Results suggest that non-verbal ability measures should not be considered "knowledge free." Three tables present study data. (SLD) * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * from the original document.

Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 1986

Methods of evaluating adult spatial memory performance were examined in two spatial memory tasks. Displacement scores were shown to exhibit mathematical difficulties. A comparison was made of several measures of spatial memory performance that are mathematically adequate for parametric analysis. These were found to correlate with each other at very high levels. It was concluded that, provided the measure used in any given study of spatial memory satisfies the assumptions on which the statistics to be used are predicated, a variety of satisfactory measures of spatial memory can be employed, and that the criterion as to which should be used may depend primarily upon considerations germaine to the specific research problem at hand. Memory for spatial locations has become a focus of recent study (e.g.,

Memory & Cognition, 1984

Adults differing in spatial ability were tested on problems involving the mental rotation of familiar alphanumeric stimuli and unfamiliar stimuli drawn from the Primary Mental Abilities Space Test. Individual differences in spatial ability were associated with speed rather than accuracy of mental rotation processes. Ability differences were correlated with the time to rotate familiar alphanumerics and the additional time to encode, compare, and rotate unfamiliar stimuli. The results are discussed in terms of differences in elementary information processes associated with the representation and transformation of visual information. Information processing models have been applied successfully to the analysis of individual differences in cognitive abilities. The majority of such research has focused on performance in verbal processing tasks (e.g.,

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1987

In the context of a longitudinal study of cognitive and personality development, I examined various correlates of spatial visualization ability, as measured by Vandenberg's Mental Rotations Test, in order to elaborate the meaning of the known sex difference on this factor. Spatial visualization ability in females was correlated with verbal IQ and various aspects of personality. These relations were absent in males. Within each sex, measures of cognitive abilities obtained in childhood predicted spatial visualization ability at age 18. Hypotheses designed to explain the sex difference in spatial visualization must be sensitive to the different implications of this factor in males and females. Spatial ability is composed of at least two major components: spatial visualization and spatial orientation (McGee, 1979; Vandenberg, 1975). Though various definitions for these factors have been provided, McGee (1979, p. 909) may have offered the most encompassing characterizations: Spatial visualization is the ability to mentally rotate, manipulate, and twist two-and three-dimensional stimulus objects. Spatial orientation ability includes the comprehension of the arrangement of elements within a visual stimulus pattern, the aptitude to remain unconfused by the changing orientations in which a spatial configuration may be presented, and an ability to determine spatial orientation with respect to one's body. The difference between spatial visualization and orientation is perhaps reducible to the difference between manipulation of and adaptation to visual stimuli. The spatial orientation component is strongly related to the concept of field independence. Indeed, Sherman (1967) suggested that the sex differences observed in field independence arise not from a difference in cognitive styles but from the sex difference in spatial ability. The power and attractiveness of the field-independence construct developed largely from the recognition that although its measurement operations require performance on tasks in the cognitive domain, correlates of performance spread widely into the area of personality and social behavior (Witkin & Goodenough, 1977, 1981). Given the established fertility of the field-independence construct in providing a link between the spatial orientation factor and personality, it is intriguing to consider a similar and parallel investigation of the relation between the spatial visualization factor and personality characteristics. The inclusion of Vandenberg's Mental Rotations Test (Vandenberg & Kuse, 1978) in the This study was supported by National Institute of Mental Health Grant MH 16080 to Jack Block and Jeanne H. Block. I thank Jack Block, Howard Terry, and Brian E. Vaughn for their comments on an earlier draft of this article.

Nowadays, interest in spatial ability has been increasing in education because it can predict education and professional success. However, in Myanmar, there was no wide awareness of the importance of spatial ability, and there were no typical spatial ability tests. Therefore, in this paper, two new equivalent multiple-task spatial ability tests were developed. These tests were designed as multiple-task spatial ability tests to measure more aspects of spatial ability than single-task tests. To develop the tests, a two-parameter logistic model (2PLM) of item response theory (IRT) was utilized. Consequently, two equivalent tests composed of 40 items were developed.

Military Psychology

Spatial ability has long been considered an important attribute when identifying military aviators. This paper examines the Direction Orientation Task (DOT), which is currently used by the US military to assess spatial ability in aviation applicants. Several limitations of the test, such as a limited number of trials and the availability of practice trials online, make it subject to potential ceiling effects. The paper presents historical data of all Naval Aviator applicants over a six-year time period and revealed that 22% of applicants answered 90% or more of the questions correctly. Furthermore, test performance has significantly increased in the years since the test was first administered and there is evidence that DOT is no longer contributing incremental validity. A follow-up empirical study looked at DOT performance and strategy in a group of military student aviators and student air traffic controllers. The results of the empirical investigation reveal that the use of an analytic strategy was associated with higher performance on the DOT, whereas the use of a spatial strategy was not associated with performance. Taken together, the improved performance data over time and the data on strategy use suggest the test's ability to measure spatial ability may be diminishing, ultimately reducing its construct and incremental validity. This is problematic and should be addressed, since the DOT is the only measure of spatial ability used by the Navy to assess aviation applicants.