Prenatal testosterone does not explain sex differences in spatial ability

Toivainen, Teemu; Pannini, Giulia; Papageorgiou, Kostas A.; Malanchini, Margherita; Rimfeld, Kaili; Shakeshaft, Nicholas G.; Kovas, Yulia

doi:10.1038/s41598-018-31704-y

Cited by 20 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…Because sex differences are often found for spatial abilities (though not always in the same direction) 32,33 , we examined whether performance differed between males and females. We found significant differences in performance between males and females across all tests (Supplementary Table 2).…”

Section: Individual Differences In Spatial Orientation Can Be Measurementioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence for a unitary structure of spatial cognition beyond general intelligence

et al. 2020

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Performance in everyday spatial orientation tasks (e.g., map reading and navigation) has been considered functionally separate from performance on more abstract object-based spatial abilities (e.g., mental rotation and visualization). However, few studies have examined the link between spatial orientation and object-based spatial skills, and even fewer have done so including a wide range of spatial tests. To examine this issue and more generally to test the structure of spatial ability, we used a novel gamified battery to assess six tests of spatial orientation in a virtual environment and examined their association with ten object-based spatial tests, as well as their links to general cognitive ability (g). We further estimated the role of genetic and environmental factors in underlying variation and covariation in these spatial tests. Participants (N = 2660; aged 19-22) were part of the Twins Early Development Study. The six tests of spatial orientation clustered into a single 'Navigation' factor that was 64% heritable. Examining the structure of spatial ability across all 16 tests, three, substantially correlated, factors emerged: Navigation, Object Manipulation, and Visualization. These, in turn, loaded strongly onto a general factor of Spatial Ability, which was highly heritable (84%). A large portion (45%) of this high heritability was independent of g. The results point towards the existence of a common genetic network that supports all spatial abilities.

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Section: Individual Differences In Spatial Orientation Can Be Measurementioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence for a unitary structure of spatial cognition beyond general intelligence

et al. 2020

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“…VSA are defined as the ability to recall, generate, represent and transform symbolic and non-linguistic information (Linn & Petersen, 1985;Toivainen et al, 2018;Yılmaz, 2017). According to Peck, Yuksel, Harrison, Ottley, and Chang (2012), VSA are a cognitive trait that varies among individuals and affects learning performance when using visualizations.…”

Section: Visuospatial Abilitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of visuospatial abilities in memorizing animations among soccer players

Mahfoudh

Zoudji

2020

Journal of Imagery Research in Sport and Physical Activity

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ObjectivesThe use of dynamic media such as animations for educational purposes in the sport field keeps growing. However, not adapting these information-enriched supports to learners’ perquisites can diminish their learning efficiency. In this paper, we studied the effect of visuospatial abilities (VSA) on the memorization of a dynamic tactical scene among soccer players.MethodsParticipants (N=48) performed a multitask VSA test (control test) to distinguish people with “high” and “low” VSA. Then, they were required to memorize and reproduce a dynamic sequence (main test).ResultsResults indicate a learning enhancer effect of VSA. Players with high VSA were more efficient in memorizing the sequence than those with low VSA.ConclusionResults suggest considering VSA in order to optimize learning from dynamic presentations even if participants belong to the same group. In addition, VSA training for athletes is recommended in order to enhance their learning of dynamic visual content.

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“…Given the consistent sex differences reported for spatial ability (see, for example, Tosto et al, 2014;Toivainen et al, 2018), sex differences in the Chinese and Russian samples were examined before factor analysis was done. In the Russian sample, males outperformed females on all tests, with ή 2 ranging from 1% to 11% (see Esipenko et al, in this issue for more information).…”

Section: Descriptive Statisticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Factorial Structure of Spatial Abilities in Russian and Chinese Students

Likhanov¹,

Ismatullina²,

Fenin³

et al. 2018

Psych. Rus.

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Background. Recent research has suggested a unifactorial structure of spatial ability (SA). However, further studies are needed to replicate this finding in different populations. Objective. This study aims to explore the factorial structure of SA in samples of 921 Russian and 229 Chinese university students. Design. A gamified spatial abilities battery was administered to all participants. The battery consists of 10 different domains of SA, including 2D and 3D visualization, mental rotation, spatial pattern assembly, spatial relations, spatial planning, mechanical reasoning, spatial orientation, and spatial decision-making speed and flexibility. Results. The results of the factor analysis showed a somewhat different pattern for different samples. In the Russian sample, the unifactorial structure, shown previously in a large UK sample (Rimfeld et al., 2017), was replicated. A single factor explained 40% of the variance. In the Chinese sample two factors emerged: the first factor explained 26% of the variance and the second factor, including only mechanical reasoning and cross-sections tests, explained 14%. The results also showed that the Chinese sample significantly outperformed the Russian sample in five out of the 10 tests. Russian students showed better performance in only two of the tests. The effects of all group comparisons were small. The Factorial Structure of Spatial Abilities in Russian and Chinese Students 97 Conclusion. Overall, a similar amount of variance in the 10 tests was explained in the two samples, replicating results from the UK sample. Future research is needed to explain the observed differences in the structure of SA.

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Prenatal testosterone does not explain sex differences in spatial ability

Cited by 20 publications

References 65 publications

Evidence for a unitary structure of spatial cognition beyond general intelligence

Evidence for a unitary structure of spatial cognition beyond general intelligence

The role of visuospatial abilities in memorizing animations among soccer players

The Factorial Structure of Spatial Abilities in Russian and Chinese Students

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