In Study 1, upper-division university students took the Witkin Group Embedded Figures Test. Neither race nor sex differences were found. In Study 2, Black and Euro-American freshmen completed that test, a modified Kohs Black Design Test, and the WAIS Picture Completion Test. Racial differences on embedded figures appeared. (Author/SJL)

Plomin and Foch's conclusion that sex differences in cognition account for very little of the total variability in test scores is challenged by demonstrating that on a complex test of spatial visualization the difference between males and females accounts for a quite substantial portion of variability. (Author)

A total of 31 three- and four-year-old children were observed at four computer tasks in order to determine the extent to which spatial knowledge and memory for the language and mechanics of programing were related. (Author/RH)

The fact that males outperform females on specific spatial tests is not generally disputed, but the explanations for these differences are controversial. This paper highlights unresolved issues, such as definitions of space and measurement of abilities, and illustrates problems of interpretation of research regarding sex differences. (Author/HS)

Two processing abilities used to solve spatial problems are examined: (1) the analog ability of structural visualization; and (2) the non-analog ability of verbal analytic reasoning. The distinction is based on an evaluation of information processing theory and a review of process-oriented studies of individual differences. Criteria are presented…

Seventy-nine kindergarten and sixth-grade right-handed subjects were administered tasks to infer left-hemisphere and right-hemisphere processing and a measure of field dependence/independence. Results correlating to age and sex are discussed. (Author/SJL)

Some specific intellectual abilities show consistent sex differences which vary in degree according to types of tests and samples examined. Reviews the empirical support for these differences, as well as the methodological difficulties, data and sampling limitations, interpretative biases, and contradictory results of much of the sex-difference…

Young and older nursery school children were taken to three locations in their school and asked to point to five targets on the school grounds. Older children were more accurate than younger children, but children's spatial representations were relatively nonintegrated at both age levels. Consistent sex differences in favor of males were found.…

Used two spatial and language tasks to investigate that clockwise directionality in circle drawing indicates neutral integration difficulties. Tasks were administered to 106 children, eight years of age. Data were analyzed for sex differences and circling behavior. None of the hypotheses based on Blau's theory was supported. (Author)

Children's performances in pointing a telescope at landmarks surrounding their own neighborhood were assessed for 60 children in three age groups: first and second graders, fourth and fifth graders, and seventh and eighth graders. Among the results, sex differences both in point consistency and in the accuracy of pointings from imagined reference…

Identified subjects' handedness and family handedness (genetic variables) and college major (environmental variable); and tested subjects on the Vandenberg Mental Rotation Test. Found that right-handed females with non-right-handed relatives and with science or math majors outperformed other females and equaled the performance of males on the…

Because of the general recognition of the importance of mathematics ability, and the close relationship between mathematics ability and spatial ability, eight studies were undertaken to discover and describe aspects of spatial competence in children. The range of abilities tapped stretched from very early precursor skills with Euclidean space to…

Analyzes sex-related differences between mental rotation rate and spatial ability among adults, 14-year-olds, and 9.5-year-olds to determine the extent to which rotation rate is a correlate of various abilities. (HOD)

Spatial span (Corsi's block tapping) and verbal span (Wechsler Digits Forward) were measured in 1113 children (ages 4-10) from urban and rural districts of Italy. The urban group performed significantly better on both tests. Sex differences, favoring boys, were found only on the spatial span test. (Author/SJL)

A total of 259 children between 5 and 12 years of age plotted the location and heading of an adult who was standing in their classroom onto a map of the classroom. Older children performed better than younger ones; boys performed better than girls. (MDM)