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. 2021 Feb 2:11:609363.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.609363. eCollection 2020.

Spatial Abilities for Architecture: Cross Sectional and Longitudinal Assessment With Novel and Existing Spatial Ability Tests

Michal Berkowitz  1 , Andri Gerber  2 , Christian M Thurn  1 , Beatrix Emo  2   1 , Christoph Hoelscher  1 , Elsbeth Stern  1
Affiliations

Spatial Abilities for Architecture: Cross Sectional and Longitudinal Assessment With Novel and Existing Spatial Ability Tests

Michal Berkowitz et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

This study examined individual differences in spatial abilities of architecture students. Students at different educational levels were assessed on spatial ability tests that varied in their domain-specificity to architecture, with the hypothesis that larger differences between beginner and advanced students will emerge on more domain-specific tests. We also investigated gender differences in test performance and controlled for general reasoning ability across analyses. In a cross sectional study, master students (N = 91) outperformed beginners (N = 502) on two novel tests involving perspective taking and object composition, as well as on a standardized visualization of cross-sections test, but not on a standardized mental rotations test. Longitudinally (N = 117), spatial performance improved after the first bachelor year on visualization of cross-sections, object composition and mental rotation. Although both genders showed higher spatial test performance with increased experience, male students outperformed females across tests and levels of education. The results overall confirmed improvements in spatial performance during architecture studies, with partial support for the domain-specificity hypothesis. A gender gap among advanced students calls for further examining architecture-specific spatial thinking.

Keywords: architecture; gender; higher education; spatial abilities; test performance.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Example of an item on the Urban Layout Test.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Example item from Indoor Perspective Test. Participants had to imagine themselves standing inside the object at point C and looking toward point A.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Example items from Packing. Left: whole-to-part item. Right: part-to-whole item.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Performance on the six tests split by degree. Error bars indicate 95% confidence interval.
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
Test performance by gender and degree. Error bars indicate 95% confidence intervals.
FIGURE 6
FIGURE 6
Test scores at two time points by gender. Error bars indicate 95% confidence intervals.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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