José Santacreu

Vehicles of spatial ability

Spatial ability implies the generation, retention, retrieval, and transformation of visuo-spatial information. Factor analytic research has identified a broad array of spatial factors. Visualization (Vz) and Spatial relations (SR) are among the most cited. Dynamic spatial performance (DSP) has emerged in more recent times as a new strong candidate. However, there are some doubts about the existence of clear separate spatial factors. On the one hand, general spatial ability (Gv) has a substantial overlap with fluid reasoning (Gf). On the other hand, as Carroll’s [Carroll, J. B. (1993). Human cognitive abilities: a survey of factor analytic studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press] survey notes, procedures of measurement are in need of considerable refinement. A battery of Vz, SR, and DSP spatial tests was applied in the present study to a sample of 105 undergraduates. The correlation matrix is analysed through a Schmid–Leiman hierarchical factor analysis, resulting in a powerful higher-order factor identified with Gv. First-order factors are shown as psychologically meaningless. Moreover, a confirmatory factor analysis demonstrates that a single endogenous factor, identified with Gv, predicts fairly well all the spatial markers. The correlation between the subjects’ Gv factor scores and their scores in the Cattell’s Culture Fair test shows a value of +0.6. Therefore, the study suggests that there is no clear separation among markers of some core spatial factors and that Gv strongly correlates with fluid ability (Gf). # 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Dynamic spatial performance: sex and educational differences

Abstract A set of two dynamic tests were developed for measuring spatial orientation and spatial visualization (SODT and SVDT). These dynamic spatial tests were designed for computer administration. A printed battery including reasoning and spatial tests was also administered to a sample of 602 university graduates, 300 females (mean age=27.17) and 302 males (mean age=28.41). The participants were applicants for an air traffic control training program. Therefore, they were highly motivated to do their best. The present study is based on three main questions: (1) do the new dynamic spatial tests measure the same ability irrespective of sex?; (2) are performance differences between the sexes negligible for spatial tasks that closely resemble ‘real’ spatial orientation activities?; and (3) is type of education related to dynamic spatial performance? (to our knowledge, a question not directly addressed in the previous literature). The findings suggest that: (1) the factor structure is the same for both sexes; (2) males have an overall higher dynamic spatial performance than females; and (3) neither males’ nor females’ type of education makes any difference to their dynamic spatial performance. When males and females have the same type of education, dynamic spatial performance is still higher in males.

Sex differences in dynamic spatial ability: The unsolved question of performance factors

Males and females differ in several cognitive abilities, although the largest gap can be found in spatial ability. Some published studies make the claim thatperformance factors, which can be either subject- or task-related variables, explain these differences. However, previous studies in which performance factors were measured have focused on static spatial tests. Little is known about the role of performance factors in dynamic spatial tasks. In the present study, we analyzed a sample of 2,624 university graduates to test the role of three performance factors (response latency, response frequency, and invested time) derived from the Spatial Orientation Dynamic Test-Revised (SODT-R; Santacreu, 1999). The results showed that males and females appear to cope with the dynamic task in different ways. However, males outperformed females even when the effects of the performance factors were partialed out; that is, the assessed performance factors did not explain much of the sex-related variance. Alternative ways of measuring performance factors will be needed if they are to explain sex differences in dynamic spatial ability.

The Assessment of Spatial Ability with a Single Computerized Test

Summary: Spatial cognitive ability has to do with how individuals deal with spatial information. Spatial ability is routinely assessed to predict performance in a variety of job positions, air traffic control being an example. Spatial tests are good predictors of performance in those occupations. One of the most valuable pieces of knowledge for psychological assessment in personnel selection is that concerning efficient ways to measure a given psychological trait, meaning that the measure shows high validity and low application costs. This article reports two studies showing the high efficiency of a new measure of spatial ability: SODT-R, a computer-administered test of dynamic spatial performance in which the person is required to simultaneously orient two moving points to a given destination that change from trial to trial. In the first study, 602 applicants for an air traffic control training course completed a battery of nine cognitive tests. In the second study, 105 university undergraduates complete...

SEX DIFFERENCES IN VERBAL REASONING ARE MEDIATED BY SEX DIFFERENCES IN SPATIAL ABILITY

Several meta-analyses have shown that males outperform females in overall spatial ability, while females outperform males in some verbal ability tests, but not in others. The present article measures sex differences in two computerized tests, one thought to reflect verbal reasoning and one thought to reflect dynamic spatial performance. The sample comprised 1,593 university graduates (794 females and 799 males). Results show that males outperform females in both tests. However, sex differences in verbal reasoning turn to be nonsignificant when sex differences in dynamic spatial performance are statistically removed. The finding is interpreted from the previously demonstrated fact that the verbal reasoning test requires spatial processing. The result raises doubts about the common practice of evaluating sex differences in cognitive abilities from the tests’ superficial characteristics or information content. The interpretation of the observed findings strongly requires the analysis of the tests’ cognitive requirements.

Quantifying cognitive complexity: evidence from a reasoning task

There are some doubts about the nature of cognitive complexity. It has been proposed that the loadings on the first un-rotated factor can be taken as a way to quantify the cognitive complexity of a given task. However, the evidence is sparse. The present study tests 1968 participants in a computerized task that comprises linear syllogisms or three-term series problems. The correlation matrix is submitted to a factor analysis. The first un-rotated factor is taken as the vector of cognitive complexity. The vector of task difficulty was obtained after the proportion of participants that failed each syllogism. In addition to task empirical difficulty, three information processing models are taken as predictors of cognitive complexity. Then, regression analyses were carried out to predict cognitive complexity from the information processing (IP) models and task difficulty. Results show that the IP models and task difficulty predict cognitive complexity defined by the loadings on the first un-rotated factor. Therefore, it is concluded that those loadings can be taken as a way to quantify cognitive complexity.

Is static spatial performance distinguishable from dynamic spatial performance? A latent-variable analysis.

Abstract There is disagreement among researchers about the distinction between dynamic and static spatial performance. Given that dynamic spatial performance is supposed to be important for some occupations, such as air traffic control (ATC), it is germane to have evidence about the likelihood of that distinction. In the present study, a battery of printed static spatial and reasoning tests were applied to 480 applicants for an ATC training course. Two dynamic spatial tests were also applied. Confirmatory factor analyses were performed for testing three models. In Model A, static and dynamic spatial tests were grouped, whereas in Model B, spatial tests were separated according to their static or dynamic character, and in Model C, spatial tests were segregated according to the construct they tapped (visualization or spatial relations). The authors found that Model B, which distinguished static and dynamic spatial tests, showed the best fit. They also discuss some implications of the findings.

A Betting Dice Test to Study the Interactive Style of Risk-Taking Behavior

The purpose of this research was to assess the consistency and stability of risk-behavior within the interactive style perspective through a betting dice test (Ribes & Sánchez, 1992). We used two different versions of the betting dice test (BDT), in which some parametric values were changed in order to verify the interactive style configuration. When BDT version 1 was used (Study 1) we found that, even though the response options had the same expected value, subjects presented a conservative strategy, and that the behavior remained stable after 2 hr. The second BDT version (Study 2) allowed us to verify two aspects of the risk-taking behavior: (a) Subjects’ risk behavior remains stable after 1 yr; and (b) the assumed risk varies between the two versions of the BDT. These results are discussed within the interactive style framework.

A Dilemmas Task for Eliciting Risk Propensity

Risk propensity (RP) is a trait characterized by an increased probability of engaging in behaviors that have some potential danger or harm but also pro>ide an opportunity for some benefit. In the present study, a new RP task with several dilemmas was explored. Each dilemma includes the initial set plus successive approximations for estimating the Indifference Value between a Secure and the expected value of an uncertain Game. The scores showed good internal consistency, reasonably test-retest reliability, and good validity. The risk propensity dilemmas (RPD) task is proposed as an addition to an ideal battery of tasks for reflecting a complex trait that should be assessed from varied perspecth’es, procedures, and scenarios of uncertainty.

Performance as a Function of Ability, Resources Invested, and Strategy Used

Computerized tasks allow a more fine-grained analysis of the strategy deployed in a task designed to map a specific ability than the usual assessment on the basis of only the level of performance. Manipulations expected to impair performance sometimes do not have that effect, probably because the level of performance alone can confound the assessment of the ability level if researchers ignore the strategy used. In a study with 1,872 participants, the authors applied the Spatial Orientation Dynamic Test-Revised (J. Santacreu, 1999) in single and dual task settings, identifying 3 different strategies. Strategy shifts were associated with the level of performance, as more apt individuals were more likely to shift to better strategies. Ignoring the strategies yields counterintuitive results that cannot be explained by simple, direct relations among the constructs involved.