Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Innovative testing of spatial ability: interactive responding and the use of complex stimuli material

  • Research Report
  • Published:
Cognitive Processing Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Despite initial expectations, which have emerged with the advancement of computer technology over the last decade of the twentieth century, scientific literature does not contain many relevant references regarding the development and use of innovative items in psychological testing. Our study presents and evaluates two novel item types. One item type is derived from a standard schematic test item used for the assessment of the spatial perception aspect of spatial ability, enhanced by an interactive response module. The performance on this item type is correlated with the performance on its paper and pencil counterpart. The other innovative item type used complex stimuli in the form of a short video of a ride through a city presented in an on-route perspective, which is intended to measure navigation skills and the ability to keep oneself oriented in space. In this case, the scores were related to the capacity of visuo-spatial working memory and also to the overall score in the paper/pencil test of spatial ability. The second relationship was moderated by gender.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Notes

  1. When examining the interaction effects of gender, the question of multiple testing arises. In our case, we present 13 statistical tests regarding interactions with gender. When applying the Bonferroni correction, the 0.004 level of significance should be considered.

References

  • Allen GL, Kirasic KC, Dobson SH, Long RG, Beck S (1996) Predicting environmental learning from spatial abilities: an indirect route. Intelligence 22:327–355

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Amthauer R (1970) I-S-T 70 Intelligenz-Struktur-Test [Intelligence Structure Test]. Hogrefe, Göttingen

    Google Scholar 

  • Baddeley AD (1986) Working memory. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Bäumler G (1974) Lern- und Gedächtnistest LGT-3: Handanweisung [Learning and memory test LGT-3: handbook]. Verlag für Psychologie, Göttingen

    Google Scholar 

  • Dabbs JM Jr, Chang EL, Strong RA, Milun R (1998) Spatial ability, navigation strategy, and geographic knowledge among men and women. Evol Hum Behav 19:89–98. doi:10.1016/S1090-5138(97)00107-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dolan RP, Goodman J, Strain-Seymour E, Adams J, Sethuraman S (2011) Cognitive lab evaluation of innovative items in mathematics and English language arts assessment of elementary, middle, and high school students. Pearson Assessments. http://www.pearsonassessments.com/research/researchpub/researchlist.type.Research_Reports.html. Accessed 11 Dec 2013

  • Embretson SE (2007) Mixed Rasch models for measurement in cognitive psychology. In: von Davier M, Carstensen CH (eds) Multivariate and mixture distribution Rasch models: extensions and applications. Springer, New York, pp 235–253

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Garden S, Cornoldi C, Logie RH (2002) Visuo-spatial working memory in navigation. Appl Cogn Psychol 16:35–50. doi:10.1002/acp.746

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glück J, Fitting S (2003) Spatial strategy selection: interesting incremental information. Int J Test 3:293–308. doi:10.1207/S15327574IJT0303_7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Golledge RG (1992) Place recognition and wayfinding: making sense of space. Geoforum 23:119–214

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hayes AF (2013) Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: a regression-based approach. The Guilford Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Hegarty M (2010) Components of spatial intelligence. In: Ross BH (ed) Psychology of learning and motivation. Academic Press, San Diego, pp 265–297

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Hegarty M, Waller DA (2005) Individual differences in spatial abilities. In: Shah P, Miyake A (eds) The Cambridge handbook of visuospatial thinking. Cambridge University Press, New York, pp 121–169

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Hegarty M, Richardson AE, Montelo DR, Lovelace K, Subbiah I (2002) Development of a self-report measure of environmental spatial ability. Intelligence 30:425–447. doi:10.1016/S0160-2896(02)00116-2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hestenes D (1998) Who needs physics education research!? Am J Phys 66:465–467

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ishikawa T, Montello DR (2006) Spatial knowledge acquisition from direct experience in the environment: individual differences in the development of metric knowledge and the integration of separately learned places. Cogn Psychol 52:93–129

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jelínek M, Květon P, Vobořil D (2013) Skryté aspekty v testování prostorové představivosti: identifikace uplatňovaných stylů řešení položek [Hidden aspects in spatial ability testing: identification of respondents’ item solving strategies]. Cesk Psychol 57:297–306

    Google Scholar 

  • Květon P, Jelínek M, Vobořil D (2014) Testing of spatial ability: construction and evaluation of a new instrument. Stud Psychol 56:233–252. doi:10.4149/studphys_2014_03_233

  • Lawton CA (1994) Gender differences in way-finding strategies: relationship to spatial ability and spatial anxiety. Sex Roles 30:765–779

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lawton CA, Kallai J (2002) Gender differences in wayfinding strategies and anxiety about wayfinding: a cross-cultural comparison. Sex Roles 47:389–401

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lester G (1968) The rod-and-frame test: some comments on methodology. Percept Motor Skill 26:1307–1314

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Linn MC, Petersen AC (1985) Emergence and characterization of gender differences in spatial abilities: a meta-analysis. Child Dev 56:1479–1498. doi:10.1111/1467-8624.ep7252392

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Logie RH (1995) Visuo-spatial working memory. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hove

    Google Scholar 

  • Lohman DF (1988) Spatial abilities as traits processes, and knowledge. In: Sternberg RJ (ed) Advances in the psychology of human intelligence. Erlbaum, Hillsdale, pp 181–248

    Google Scholar 

  • Maier PH (1994) Räumliches Vortellungsvermögen [Spatial imagination]. Peter Lang GmbH, Frankfurt am Main

    Google Scholar 

  • Maršálová L, Hrabovská A, Meszárošová B (1986) Pamäťový test LGT-3 [Memory test LGT-3]. Psychodiagnostické a didaktické testy, Bratislava

    Google Scholar 

  • Mislevy RJ (1996) Test theory reconceived. J Educ Meas 33:379–416. doi:10.1111/j.1745-3984.1996.tb00498.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moffat SD, Hampson E, Hatzipantelis M (1998) Navigation in a “virtual” maze: sex differences and correlation with psychometric measures of spatial ability in humans. Evol Hum Behav 19:73–87

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parshall CG, Davey T, Pashley PJ (2000) Innovative item types for computerized testing. In: van der Linden WJ, Glas CAW (eds) Computerized adaptive testing: theory and practice. Kluwer, Dordrecht, pp 129–148

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Parshall CG, Harmes JC, Davey T, Pashley PJ (2010) Innovative items for computerized testing. In: van der Linden WJ, Glas CAW (eds) Elements of adaptive testing. Springer, New York, pp 215–230

    Google Scholar 

  • Pellegrino JW, Alderton DL, Shute VJ (1984) Understanding spatial ability. Educ Psychol 19:239–253

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roid G, Barram R (2004) Essentials of Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales (SB5) assessment. Wiley, Hoboken

    Google Scholar 

  • Scalise K, Gifford B (2006) Computer-based assessment in e-learning: a framework for constructing “intermediate constraint” questions and tasks for technology platforms. J Technol Learn Assess 4(6). http://ejournals.bc.edu/ojs/index.php/jtla/. Accessed 5 Jan 2014

  • Siegel AW, White SH (1975) The development of spatial representations of large-scale environments. In: Reese HW (ed) Advances in child development and behavior (vol 10). Academic Press, New York, pp 9–55

    Google Scholar 

  • Sireci SG, Zenisky AL (2006) Innovative item formats in computer-based testing: in pursuit of improved construct representation. In: Downing MS, Haladyna TM (eds) Handbook of test development. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers, Mahwah, pp 329–347

    Google Scholar 

  • Stieff M (2007) Mental rotation and diagrammatic reasoning in science. Learn Instr 17:219–234. doi:10.1016/j.learninstruc.2007.01.012

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Strain-Seymour E, Way DW, Dolan RP (2009) Strategies and processes for developing innovative items in large-scale assessments. Pearson Assess. http://www.pearsonassessments.com/research/researchpub/researchlist.type.Research_Reports.html. Accessed 11 Dec 2013

  • Sugimoto M, Kusumi T (2014) The effect of text continuity on spatial representation: route versus survey perspective. Cogn Process 15:65–75. doi:10.1007/s10339-013-0582-0

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Uttal DH, Meadow NG, Tipton E, Hand LL, Alden AR, Warren C, Newcombe NS (2013) The malleability of spatial skills: a meta-analysis of training studies. Psychol Bull 139:352–402. doi:10.1037/a0028446

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vasta R, Liben LS (1996) The water level task: an intriguing puzzle. Curr Dir Psychol Sci 5:171–177

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ventura M, Shute V, Wright T, Zhao W (2013) An investigation of the validity of the virtual spatial navigation assessment. Front Psychol 4:1–7. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00852

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wechsler D (1999) Wechslerova inteligenční škála pro dospělé—třetí vydání, WAIS-III [Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale—third edition, WAIS-III]. Psychodiagnostika, Brno

    Google Scholar 

  • Wechsler D (2008) Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, 4th edn. Pearson, San Antonio

    Google Scholar 

  • Weisberg SM, Schinazi VR, Newcombe NS, Shipley TF, Epstein RA (2014) Variations in cognitive maps: understanding individual differences in navigation. J Exp Psychol Learn 40:669–682. doi:10.1037/a0035261

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wolbers T, Hegarty M (2010) What determine our navigational abilities? Trends Cogn Sci 14:138–146. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2010.01.001

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zenisky AL, Sireci SG (2002) Technological innovations in large-scale assessment. Appl Meas Educ 15:337–362. doi:10.1207/S15324818AME1504_02

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by Project No. P407-11-2397, Czech Science Foundation, and by RVO (Program for long-term conceptual development of research organization provided by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic) 68081740.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Psychology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, p.r.i., Veveří 97, 602 00, Brno, Czech Republic

    Martin Jelínek, Petr Květon & Dalibor Vobořil

Authors
  1. Martin Jelínek
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Petr Květon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Dalibor Vobořil
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Martin Jelínek.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Jelínek, M., Květon, P. & Vobořil, D. Innovative testing of spatial ability: interactive responding and the use of complex stimuli material. Cogn Process 16, 45–55 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-014-0639-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-014-0639-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation