Examined whether variations in performance of (n=396) engineering students on a measure of spatial visualization were related to prior spatial experiences and to the developmental period when the prior experiences occurred. One finding revealed nonacademic activities seemed to have the most positive significant relationship to spatial…

This study used a variation of Piaget and Inhelder's water level task and several cognitive complexity measures to test the predictions that cognitive complexity would relate positively to performance of the water level task and that males would perform better. The predictions were confirmed. Correlations for males and females differed.…

Studied the effects of peer collaboration on the acquisition of the understanding that water remains invariantly horizontal. Results from 69 female and 22 male college students show that peer collaboration did not lead to greater understanding than working alone, but that men and women talked about the problem differently and that the use of…

The hypotheses that deaf students would be more field dependent than hearing students and that their competence in communication skills would be related to field dependence were supported for a group of 77 male and 67 female deaf students at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf. Stepwise multiple regression analyses of the data showed…

Gender differences on horizontality and verticality tasks were examined to determine whether they are mediated by gender differences in expectancies for success. Gender differences in performance were found, with males performing better than females. Gender differences in expectancies for success did not fully account for gender differences in…

Males have consistently been noted to perform better than females on Piagetian horizontality and verticality tasks. To examine whether females are less competent than males or whether mediating variables influence females' performance, 42 male and 42 female college students performed horizontality and verticality tasks. Subjects also rated their…

Describes a four-factor, 20-item Everyday Spatial Activities Test (ESAT) developed for use with college students for studying the contribution of differential spatial experiences to educational and vocational behaviors. Correlations with objective tests, including a test of space visualization, establishes preliminary validity for the ESAT.…

Investigated whether environmental factors affected the magnitude of gender differences in spatial performance when tasks were susceptible to the influence of such factors. Evaluation of college students indicated that males outperformed females on two spatial tests. Activities preference in childhood affected the magnitude of gender differences…

College students who identified adolescent activities that involve spatial skills judged more of such activities to be masculine. More males than females reported having participated in spatial activities. In a second study, a correlation was found between students' participation in spatial activities and their spatial ability as measured by an…

Spatial and sequential tasks performed both independently and jointly were compared for 40 undergraduates grouped by sex and dominant hand. When both tasks were performed simutaneously, there was a significant advantage for right-handers and a slight advantage for males. This was attributed to hemispheric interference left-handers experienced.…

Examined the role that gender differences play in the determination of the components influencing the difficulty of spatial ability items. Results for 2,245 examinees taking a spatial ability test that is part of the Dental School Admission Battery show that component difficulties show little variation across gender. (SLD)

Describes a study that attempted to determine whether males and females differ in their ways of solving industrial arts psychomotor assembly tasks. Results support the theory that there is a realistic difference in the way males and females think when solving psychomotor tasks. (NRJ)

Tests of spatial ability that were designed to minimize the effects of sociocultural expectations on performance were administered to adults of both sexes. The tests examined spatial problem-solving, spatial memory, and psychomotor spatial performance, as measured by three "throwing tasks." Thirty-four male and 34 female university…

Although it has been suggested that women are less likely than men to use cardinality in dealing with environmental space, there has been no direct empirical assessment of this claim. If women are less likely than men to use cardinality, it is not clear whether women lack the competence to use a coordinate system of reference or simply prefer…

Two studies with college students investigated the generalizability of the previously found suppression effect of mathematical achievement (as shown by high school grades in mathematics) on gender differences in spatial ability. The suppression effect was found to generalize to mathematically talented students and to a computerized task. (DB)