An Introduction to Spatial Ability
In1999 Canadian neuroscientist Dr. Sandra Witelson published a paper entitled “The exceptional brain of Albert Einstein.” She wrote that an area of Einstein’s brain called parietal region which is used for spatial ability was oddly wider. She then proposed that such characteristic allowed Einstein to imagine the universe in unique and creative ways.
What is Spatial Ability?
Spatial ability is the capacity to understand and explain the spatial relations among objects or space. It is the ability to mentally create, rotate, and transform visual images. This ability is required in solving puzzles, navigating through places, and understanding maps.
The spatial ability of a certain individual can be tested. A spatial ability test may include mentally rotating and folding an abstract image. Here is an example of an item in a spatial ability test.
Which cube cannot be made based on the unfolded cube?
What is Spatial Ability?
Spatial ability is the capacity to understand and explain the spatial relations among objects or space. It is the ability to mentally create, rotate, and transform visual images. This ability is required in solving puzzles, navigating through places, and understanding maps.
The spatial ability of a certain individual can be tested. A spatial ability test may include mentally rotating and folding an abstract image. Here is an example of an item in a spatial ability test.
Which cube cannot be made based on the unfolded cube?
To come up with an answer, you need to mentally form a picture of the cube being folded. In addition, you need to track the relative positions of the sides with shapes.
(The correct answer is C.)
In everyday adult life, spatial ability is used on the following tasks: packing things in a bag, assembling a furniture, and finding the most efficient route to reach a certain place.
Spatial Ability and STEM Fields
Recent studies provide evidence that spatial ability is important in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). For example, neurosurgeons visualize different brain areas to predict the outcome of a surgery. Engineers and architects mentally manipulate the parts of a building they are designing. Chemists and physicists contemplate the three-dimensional structures of the molecules involved in a reaction.
One of the most important longitudinal studies that support the notion that spatial thinking is a key to STEM disciplines is Project Talent. This project followed around 400000 people from their teenage (high school) years to today. Researchers found that people who scored high on spatial tests were much more likely to major in STEM disciplines than those who scored lower. (Note that the students who majored in STEM also had higher verbal and mathematical scores.)
Spatial Ability and IQ Tests
In the 1920s, a Stanford psychologist Lewis Terman gave Stanford-Binet IQ tests to thousands of children in California to search for the “young geniuses.” The top 1% scorers were tracked as part of the study. Luiz Alvarez and William Shockley took the test, but they did not make the cut. Despite their exclusion from the list of “brightest” kids, both went on to study physics and win the Nobel prize.
How could the two brilliant minds be excluded from the young geniuses list? One explanation is that Terman’s IQ test, as well as many other modern IQ tests, focus on verbal and quantitative abilities and
do not include spatial ability assessment.
Spatial Ability and Modern Curricula
At present, most traditional curricula are focused mainly on verbal and quantitative skills. They rarely include instructional resources that promote spatial ability. Students who have strong spatial abilities find an outlet by doing their own projects at home and in their own time. In some cases, they realize they do not fit in the current educational system and decide to drop out.
If spatial ability is a key to the STEM disciplines, and it is not given focus in IQ tests and modern curricula, then there is much work to be done. Strategies to develop spatial ability must be included in the curriculum or at least become part of after-school programs. In preschool and primary schools, children can improve their spatial abilities by playing blocks and geometric shapes, doing jigsaw puzzles, and reading books with spatial words in them. Middle and High school Curricula can be “spatialized" by teaching through well-explained diagrams, encouraging students to sketch, and incorporating maps and timelines in class discussions. Whatever grade level the students are in, there is a way to improve their spatial skills. And the best time to start their spatial skills training is NOW.
(The correct answer is C.)
In everyday adult life, spatial ability is used on the following tasks: packing things in a bag, assembling a furniture, and finding the most efficient route to reach a certain place.
Spatial Ability and STEM Fields
Recent studies provide evidence that spatial ability is important in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). For example, neurosurgeons visualize different brain areas to predict the outcome of a surgery. Engineers and architects mentally manipulate the parts of a building they are designing. Chemists and physicists contemplate the three-dimensional structures of the molecules involved in a reaction.
One of the most important longitudinal studies that support the notion that spatial thinking is a key to STEM disciplines is Project Talent. This project followed around 400000 people from their teenage (high school) years to today. Researchers found that people who scored high on spatial tests were much more likely to major in STEM disciplines than those who scored lower. (Note that the students who majored in STEM also had higher verbal and mathematical scores.)
Spatial Ability and IQ Tests
In the 1920s, a Stanford psychologist Lewis Terman gave Stanford-Binet IQ tests to thousands of children in California to search for the “young geniuses.” The top 1% scorers were tracked as part of the study. Luiz Alvarez and William Shockley took the test, but they did not make the cut. Despite their exclusion from the list of “brightest” kids, both went on to study physics and win the Nobel prize.
How could the two brilliant minds be excluded from the young geniuses list? One explanation is that Terman’s IQ test, as well as many other modern IQ tests, focus on verbal and quantitative abilities and
do not include spatial ability assessment.
Spatial Ability and Modern Curricula
At present, most traditional curricula are focused mainly on verbal and quantitative skills. They rarely include instructional resources that promote spatial ability. Students who have strong spatial abilities find an outlet by doing their own projects at home and in their own time. In some cases, they realize they do not fit in the current educational system and decide to drop out.
If spatial ability is a key to the STEM disciplines, and it is not given focus in IQ tests and modern curricula, then there is much work to be done. Strategies to develop spatial ability must be included in the curriculum or at least become part of after-school programs. In preschool and primary schools, children can improve their spatial abilities by playing blocks and geometric shapes, doing jigsaw puzzles, and reading books with spatial words in them. Middle and High school Curricula can be “spatialized" by teaching through well-explained diagrams, encouraging students to sketch, and incorporating maps and timelines in class discussions. Whatever grade level the students are in, there is a way to improve their spatial skills. And the best time to start their spatial skills training is NOW.
“Without explicit attention to spatial thinking, we cannot meet our responsibility for equipping the next generation of students for life and work in the 21st century.”
- Roger M. Downs
- Roger M. Downs
References
Park, G, D. Lubinski, and C. Benbow. 2010. Recognizing Spatial Intelligence. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/recognizing-spatial-intel/
Dewar, G. 2017. Spatial Intelligence in Children: Making kids smarter through play, talk, and practice. https://www.parentingscience.com/spatial-intelligence.html
Newcombe, N.S. (2013) Seeing Relationships: Using Spatial Thinking to Teach Science, Mathematics, and Social Studies, American Educator, 37(1), 26-31 and 40
Newcombe, N.S. (2006) A Plea for Spatial Literacy. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 52(26).
Park, G, D. Lubinski, and C. Benbow. 2010. Recognizing Spatial Intelligence. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/recognizing-spatial-intel/
Dewar, G. 2017. Spatial Intelligence in Children: Making kids smarter through play, talk, and practice. https://www.parentingscience.com/spatial-intelligence.html
Newcombe, N.S. (2013) Seeing Relationships: Using Spatial Thinking to Teach Science, Mathematics, and Social Studies, American Educator, 37(1), 26-31 and 40
Newcombe, N.S. (2006) A Plea for Spatial Literacy. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 52(26).