The paper-and-pencil Mental Rotation Test (Vandenberg & Kuse, 1978) consistently produces large sex differences favoring men (Voyer, Voyer, & Bryden, 1995). In this task, participants select 2 of 4 answer choices that are rotations of a probe stimulus. Incorrect choices (i.e., foils) are either mirror reflections of the probe or…

The purpose of the present study was to determine whether there are visual-spatial gender differences in two-year-olds, to investigate the environmental and cognitive factors that contribute to two-year-olds' visual-spatial skills, and to explore whether these factors differ for boys and girls. Children (N = 63; M[subscript age] = 28.17 months)…

We investigated the role of children's conceptual understanding and ballgame experience when judging whether a football player is in an offside position, or not. In the offside position, a player takes advantage of being behind the defence line of the opposing team and just waits for the ball to arrive in order to score a goal. We explained the…

Giant maps offer a potentially useful pedagogical tool for teaching mathematics and map skills. In this pilot study, giant maps were distributed to elementary schools in Colorado and New Hampshire and teachers were provided with guided activities designed to integrate mathematics and geography skills. In an assessment of student skills, it was…

An innovative educational technology called interactive virtual and physical manipulatives (VPM) is developed to improve students' spatial skills. With VPM technology, not only can students touch and play with real-world physical manipulatives in their hands but also they can see how the corresponding virtual manipulatives (i.e., computer…

The present study assessed a short training experiment to improve spatial abilities using two tools based on virtual technologies: one focused on manipulation of specific geometric virtual pieces, and the other consisting of virtual orienteering game. The two tools can help improve spatial abilities required for many engineering problem-solving…

Saccade latency is widely used across infant psychology to investigate infants' understanding of events. Interpreting particular latency values requires knowledge of standard saccadic RTs, but there is no consensus as to typical values. This study provides standard estimates of infants' (n = 194, ages 9 to 15 months) saccadic RTs under a range of…

The present study aimed to set a plan for teaching EFL classes based on the identification of university students' dominant multiple intelligences in EFL classes, and the differences in the types of intelligence between female and male students in terms of their gender. The problem the present study aimed to address is that the traditional concept…

Visual cognitive style is an individual difference that is related to the preference or visual imagery tendency of an individual of processing visual information. This study examines the visual cognitive styles of university students according to their study subject, study year and genders and includes 448 first- and third-year university students…

Spatial ability has been valued as a talent domain and as an assessment form that reduces cultural, linguistic, and socioeconomic status biases, yet little is known of the spatial ability of students in gifted programs compared with those in general education. Spatial ability is considered an important indicator of potential talent in the domains…

Virtual globe programs such as Google Earth replicate real-world experiential learning of spatial and geographic concepts by allowing students to navigate across our planet without ever leaving campus. However, empirical evidence for the learning value of these technological tools and the experience students gain by exploration assignments framed…

The main aim of this research was to examine the relationship between the spatial visualization success and visual/spatial intelligence capabilities of sixth grade students. The sample of the research consists of 1011 sixth grade students who were randomly selected from the primary schools in Eskisehir. In this correlational study, data were…

The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between pupils' spatial perception and abilities and their performance in geography. The sample was 600 6th-grade pupils from various areas of Greece selected by the cluster sampling method. The study results showed that: a) the vast majority of pupils showed low spatial ability; b) there…

Although women are underrepresented in the most mathematically intensive fields, the gender gap in these fields has narrowed over the past 2 decades. In my E. L. Thorndike address I summarized the temporal trends in sex differences for 8 fields and considered factors that drive both the underrepresentation of women and its recent narrowing. I…

This study investigates whether spatial learning outcomes differ with respect to different instructional media. Spatial thinking skills were tested pre- and postlesson implementation via the spatial thinking ability test as eighth grade students participated in either paper-based or digital map-based instruction. Students' attitudes toward…