ERIC Number: EJ766333
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2007-May
Pages: 24
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0022-0663
EISSN: N/A
Spatial Ability: A Neglected Dimension in Talent Searches for Intellectually Precocious Youth
Webb, Rose Mary; Lubinski, David; Benbow, Camilla Persson
Journal of Educational Psychology, v99 n2 p397-420 May 2007
Students identified by talent search programs were studied to determine whether spatial ability could uncover math-science promise. In Phase 1, interests and values of intellectually talented adolescents (617 boys, 443 girls) were compared with those of top math-science graduate students (368 men, 346 women) as a function of their standing on spatial visualization to assess their potential fit with math-science careers. In Phase 2, 5-year longitudinal analyses revealed that spatial ability coalesces with a constellation of personal preferences indicative of fit for pursuing scientific careers and adds incremental validity beyond preferences in predicting math-science criteria. In Phase 3, data from participants with Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores were analyzed longitudinally, and a salient math-science constellation again emerged (with which spatial ability and SAT-Math were consistently positively correlated and SAT-Verbal was negatively correlated). Results across the 3 phases triangulate to suggest that adding spatial ability to talent search identification procedures (currently restricted to mathematical and verbal ability) could uncover a neglected pool of math-science talent and holds promise for refining our understanding of intellectually talented youth.
Descriptors: Visualization, Careers, Verbal Ability, Talent, Spatial Ability, Graduate Students, Aptitude Tests, Academically Gifted, Academic Aptitude, College Entrance Examinations, Scores, Longitudinal Studies, Talent Identification
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: SAT (College Admission Test)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A