Development of a Public-Domain Measure of Two-Dimensional Rotation Ability and Preliminary Evidence for Discriminant Validity among Occupations

Abstract

Despite their known influence in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, spatial abilities remain an underassessed aspect of cognition, particularly in educational settings. One explanation could be a lack of affordable, valid instruments for measuring various aspects of spatial ability. We evaluate the validity of a set of public-domain, algorithmically generated two-dimensional rotation items using a sample from the Synthetic Aperture Personality Assessment (SAPA) Project (N = 1,020,195). We examine the psychometric properties of the items and their relationship with various other cognitive abilities and personality traits. In addition, we identify the highest performing college majors and occupations on the 2D rotation items and on a set of 3D rotation items. Findings suggest strong unidimensionality for the 2D rotation items and the presence of lower-order factors which reflect differences across items in mental rotation demands. The highest scoring majors and occupations were similar—but not identical—across the 2D and 3D rotation measures and point to potentially meaningful differences across areas of expertise.

Keywords

• spatial ability
• scale development
• two-dimensional rotation
• STEM
• cognitive ability