Tests and Instruments

This section of the SILC website contains files of tests and surveys that have been developed by SILC researchers and that are available for research use. Please cite the source as indicated below in any reports or publications deriving from the use of these instruments. Also, please let the lead SILC researcher know if you modify or augment the instruments, and what your research findings are— we are interested.

• ♦Children's Mental Transformation Task
• ♦Santa Barbara Spatial Ability Tests
• ♦Visualization assessment and training (VIZ)
• ♦Library of Shepard and Metzler type mental rotation stimuli
• ♦Vandenberg & Kuse paper and pencil test (Redrawn version)
• ♦Mental Rotation Stimuli (Giorgio Ganis)
• ♦Object-Location Memory Task
• ♦Spatial Activity Survey
• ♦Video Game Experience Survey

Children's Mental Transformation Task

The Children's Mental Transformation Task was developed by Levine, Huttenlocher, Taylor, and Langrock (1999). It includes four types of items, all of which tap 2-D mental transformations. The item types are: horizontal translation, diagonal translation, horizontal rotation, and diagonal rotation. The task is appropriate for children in the 4 to 7 year age range, and shows a sex difference for children from middle SES backgrounds. This task was used in a recent study with kindergarteners (Ehrlich, Levine, & Goldin-Meadow, 2006). Results showed that boys gesture more about the movement of the shapes than girls when explaining how they solved the problems. Moreover, the use of movement gestures during explanations was correlated with performance on the test.

References

• ♦Ehrlich, S., Levine, S.C., & Goldin-Meadow, S. (2006). The importance of gesture in children’s spatial reasoning. Developmental Psychology, 42, 1259-1268.
• ♦Levine, S.C., Huttenlocher, J., Taylor, A. & Langrock, A. (1999). Early sex differences in spatial ability. Developmental Psychology, 35, 940-949.

Children's Mental Transformation Task instrument and item list:

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  Lists the items on each of the order forms.

Santa Barbara Spatial Ability Tests

♦ Santa Barbara Sense of Direction (SBSOD)

Reference

• ♦Hegarty, M. Richardson, A. E., Montello, D. R., Lovelace, K & Subbiah, I. (2002). Development of a Self-Report Measure of Environmental Spatial Ability. Intelligence, 30, 425-447.

The test instrument:

 

 

♦ Object Perspective/Spatial Orientation Test

References

• ♦Kozhevnikov, M. & Hegarty, M. (2001). A dissociation between object-manipulation and perspective-taking spatial abilities. Memory & Cognition, 29, 745-756.
• ♦Hegarty. M. & Waller, D. (2004). A dissociation between mental rotation and perspective-taking spatial abilities. Intelligence, 32, 175-191.

The test instrument:

   Perspective Taking/Spatial Orientation Test (12 questions with answers)

♦ Santa Barbara Solids Test

Reference

• ♦Cohen, C. A. & Hegarty, M. (2007). Sources of difficulty in imagining cross sections of 3D objects. Proceedings of the 29^th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society.

The test instrument:

  the test

  the answer key

  the answer key

♦ Visualization of Views Test

A test adapted from an unpublished Visualization of Views test by Guay that we read about in Elliot & Smith's compendium of spatial abilities tests. A paper has not been published on this test yet, but it is cited in the following two in-press papers:

References

• ♦Hegarty, M., Keehner, M., Khooshabeh, P. & Montello, D. R. (in press). How spatial ability enhances, and is enhanced by, dental education. Learning and Individual Differences.
• ♦Keehner, M. Hegarty, M., Cohen, C. A., Khooshabeh, P. & Montello, D. R. (in press). Spatial reasoning with external visualizations: What matters is what you see, not whether you interact. Cognitive Science.

The test instrument:

  the test

  the answer key

  the answer key

♦ Mental Rotation Test

The test instrument:

  Zip file contains Word documents of both the test and the scoring key

♦ Paper Folding Test

The test instrument:

  the test

  the answer key

Visualization assessment and training (VIZ)

VIZ: The visualization assessment and training website, was developed as an open access site for the assessment and training of spatial skills. The site uses separate modules to collect accuracy and response times. We currently have four tasks, mental rotation, paper folding, water level, and spatial working memory and other tasks can be contributed. Excel macros that are currently under development will allow users to access data from a group or by date.

References

• ♦Blasko, D., Holliday-Darr, K., Mace, D., & Blasko-Drabik, H. (2004). VIZ: The visualization assessment and training website. Behavior Research Methods Instruments & Computers, 36(2), 256-260.
• ♦Holliday-Darr, K., Blasko, D., & Dwyer, C. (1999). Improving Cognitive Visualization with a Web-Based Interactive Assessment and Training program. American Society for Engineering Educators, Engineering Design Graphics Division 54th Annual Mid Year Meeting Proceedings, 147-151.

The website:

http://viz.bd.psu.edu/viz/

Library of Shepard and Metzler type mental rotation stimuli

This library contains 16 different figures. Each, consistent with Shepard and Metzler’s approach, is composed of 10 cubes. Each figure is rendered in 5 degree steps of rotation from the basic orientation, from 0 to 360 degrees. The same is done for a mirror image of each of these figures. Thus, the basic number of figures in the library is 73 x 16 x 2, for a total of 2336 images. All of the basic images are drawn either in rotations around the vertical axis (as in a pirouetting dancer) or around the horizontal axis (as, in a typical Canadian context, a log spinning in the water in a log rolling contest). Thus, the basic set comprises 2336 x 2 images x 2 (stimuli against a dark or light background) x 2 (stimuli drawn with alternate dark and light cubes or stimuli drawn in wire frame style), for a total of 18688 stimuli. Because of space considerations, the stimuli are drawn in jpg format. We are keeping a bmp backup to make sure that there is one set of stimuli that is not prone to deterioration.

References

• ♦Peters, M. & Battista, C. (2007 Oct 27; [Epub ahead of print]). Applications of mental rotation figures of the Shepard and Metzler type and description of a Mental Rotation Stimulus Library. Brain and Cognition.
• ♦Peters, M., Laeng, B., Latham, K., Jackson, M., Zaiyouna, R. & Richardson, C. (1995). A Redrawn Vandenberg & Kuse Mental Rotations Test: Different Versions and Factors that affect Performance. Brain and Cognition, 28, 39-58.
• ♦Peters, M., Manning, J. T. & Reimers, S. (2007). The effects of sex, sexual orientation, and digit ratio (2D:4D) on mental rotation performance. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 36(2), 251-260.

Library of Shepard and Metzler type mental rotation stimuli:

The large size of the library precludes mailing via e-mail. Researchers who wish to have the set should contact us by e-mail, and request a CD with the entire library which fits, just, on a single CD. Because it takes some of our time to write a disk, we reserve the right to charge a nominal amount for the cost of the CD (depending on the demands for the library).

Vandenberg & Kuse paper and pencil test (Redrawn version)

The original Vandenberg & Kuse Mental Rotation Test has deteriorated to such an extent (only copies of copies are available) that it is of questionable usefulness. We have redrawn this test and it is available in four versions: the basic test (MRTA), an alternate form (MRTB), stimuli presented for rotation around the horizontal axis (MRTD), and a very difficult test, where stimuli have to be rotated both around the vertical and horizontal axis (MRTC). Because these tests should not be in general circulation because of practice effects, they are available only to faculty researchers and to graduate students with the consent of the supervisor.

References

• ♦Peters, M. & Battista, C. (2007 Oct 27; [Epub ahead of print]). Applications of mental rotation figures of the Shepard and Metzler type and description of a Mental Rotation Stimulus Library. Brain and Cognition.
• ♦Peters, M., Laeng, B., Latham, K., Jackson, M., Zaiyouna, R. & Richardson, C. (1995). A Redrawn Vandenberg & Kuse Mental Rotations Test: Different Versions and Factors that affect Performance. Brain and Cognition, 28, 39-58.
• ♦Peters, M., Manning, J. T. & Reimers, S. (2007). The effects of sex, sexual orientation, and digit ratio (2D:4D) on mental rotation performance. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 36(2), 251-260.

The test instrument:

Please, email the lead researchers.

Mental Rotation Stimuli (Giorgio Ganis)

This dataset contains the individual files (in PICT format) used in the study cited below and a .tar archive with all the files. The set has 47  Shepard and Metzler figures and their mirror images. This set is especially useful for training studies in which shape repetition would be problematic.

The file naming conventions are as follows. The first 4 numbers are the number of blocks in the four arms of the figure. The fifth number can be 0, 90 or 180. It's a rotation factor of part of the figure (basically, one can generate more then one shape for a given set of 4 arm lengths). The number after the 'Y' is the angle of rotation between the shapes (3 angles, 50, 100, and 150). Finally, if the filename starts with 'R', it means that the two shapes are mirror-images of each other.

Reference

• ♦Wright R, Thompson WL, Ganis G, Newcombe NS & Kosslyn SM. (2008). Training generalized spatial skills. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 15(4), 763-71.

The website (please, email Giorgio Ganis for access information):

http://wjh.harvard.edu/~ganis/FILES

Object-Location Memory Task

Here is a web publication for computerized assessment of object-location memory based on Silverman and Eal’s task (1992).

References

• ♦Flannery, K. & Eddy, M. (1999). Object location memory [On-line].

Object-Location Memory Task instrument:

http://psychexps.olemiss.edu/InstrOnly_Page/object_location_memory.htm

Spatial Activity Survey

This spatial activity survey was developed by Newcombe, Bandura and Taylor (1983). It is a retrospective self-report measure concerning participation in 81 activities rated as spatial, divided by whether they are masculine, feminine, or neutral in sex typing. A meta-analysis of correlations with spatial ability was conducted by Baenninger & Newcombe (1989). A shorter version was used in research by Signorella, Jamison & Krupa (1989).

References

• ♦Baenninger, M. A. & Newcombe, N. (1989). The role of experience in spatial test performance: A meta-analysis. Sex Roles, 20, 327-344.
• ♦Newcombe, N., Bandura, M.M. & Taylor, D.G. (1983). Sex differences in spatial ability and spatial activities. Sex Roles, 9, 377-386.
• ♦Signorella, M.L., Jamison, W. & Krupa, M.H. (1989). Predicting spatial performance from gender stereotyping in activity preferences and in self-concept. Developmental Psychology, 25, 89-95.

The survey instrument:

 

 

Video Game Experience Survey

This self-report measure of experience playing videogames was developed by Terlecki & Newcombe (2005). It correlates with scores on Mental Rotations tests.

References

• ♦Terlecki, M.S. & Newcombe, N.S. (2005). How important is the digital divide? The relation of computer and videogame usage to gender differences in mental rotation ability. Sex Roles, 53, 433-441.

The survey instrument: