Measurement of Spatial Ability: Construction and Validation of the Spatial Reasoning Instrument for Middle School Students

Abstract

This article describes the development and validation of a newly designed instrument for measuring the spatial ability of middle school students (11-13 years old). The design of the Spatial Reasoning Instrument (SRI) is based on three constructs (mental rotation, spatial orientation, and spatial visualization) and is aligned to the type of spatial maneuvers and task representations that middle-school students may encounter in mathematics and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)-related subjects. The instrument was administered to 430 students. Initially, a set of 15 items were devised for each of the three spatial constructs and the 45 items were eventually reduced to 30 items on the basis of factor analysis. The three underpinning factors accounted for 43% of variance. An internal reliability value of .845 was obtained. Subsequent Rasch analysis revealed appropriate item difficulty fit across each of the constructs. The three constructs of the SRI correlated significantly with existing well-established psychological instruments: for mental rotation (.71), spatial orientation (.41), and spatial visualization (.66). The psychometric characteristics of SRI substantiate the use of this measurement tool for research and pedagogical purposes.

Visuospatial training improves elementary students’ mathematics performance

“…The SRI (Ramful et al ., ) was based on three constructs (mental rotation, spatial orientation, and spatial visualization) and aligned to the type of spatial manoeuvres that elementary school students tend to encounter in the school curriculum. The 45‐item multiple‐choice SRI (reported internal reliability was .849; Ramful et al ., ) comprised fifteen items from each of the three constructs (see Figure a–c for examples of items from the spatial visualization, mental rotation, and spatial orientation constructs, respectively).…”

“…The SRI (Ramful et al ., ) was based on three constructs (mental rotation, spatial orientation, and spatial visualization) and aligned to the type of spatial manoeuvres that elementary school students tend to encounter in the school curriculum. The 45‐item multiple‐choice SRI (reported internal reliability was .849; Ramful et al ., ) comprised fifteen items from each of the three constructs (see Figure a–c for examples of items from the spatial visualization, mental rotation, and spatial orientation constructs, respectively). The constructs have strong correlations with those commonly used in the cognitive psychology literature, namely Cube Comparison Test ( r = .44), Paper Folding Test ( r = .60; Ekstrom, French, Harman, & Dermen, ), and Perspective Taking or Spatial Orientation Test ( r = .62; Hegarty & Waller, ); however, the measure is specifically designed for an elementary school population.…”

Immersive Virtual Reality as an Effective Tool for Second Language Vocabulary Learning

“…This instrument measures mental rotation, spatial orientation, and spatial visualization abilities (Ramful et al 2017). The multiple-choice questionnaire includes 30 questions in ascending difficulty.…”

First publication of subtests in the Stanford-Binet 5, WAIS-IV, WISC-V, and WPPSI-IV

“…Likewise, Ramful, Lowrie, and Logan (2016) stated that this test had a 1970s origin-misstating the true creation of the test by over seven decades. Thus, it is likely that many other subtests have origins that are often misunderstood by psychologists.…”