The purpose of this exploratory study was to add to our understanding of hemispheric specialisation by examining the relationships between functional laterality (as measured by handedness, eyedness, earedness, and footedness) and spatial tests. A total of 55 males and 170 females were tested for laterality preferences and spatial test performance using a range of six spatial tests. There was a statistically significant relationship between each of the laterality measures employed, with handedness and footedness demonstrating the most robust association. Multiple regression analyses highlighted that once potential confounds were statistically controlled (age, sex, and other types of functional laterality), 3-D rotation/visualisation and speeded visual exploration task performance showed small, but significant, relations with a tendency towards left-handedness over right-handedness in total and secondary (two-handed) scale scores. Flexibility of closure performance was associated with a tendency towards left-handedness in the total and one-handed scale scores. Spatial location memory was the lone spatial ability relating with a tendency towards right-handedness. Overall, these findings offer new insights into the interplay of handedness with alternative measures of laterality as well as with spatial abilities.
Exploratory analyses of a 126-item self-report assessment of difficulty of spatial behaviours (revision of the Everyday Spatial Behavioral Questionnaire, ESBQ) were used to examine principal components and the underlying root structure of perceived spatial competencies. We also examined laterality measures (handedness, footedness, and earedness), sex, and age as predictors of spatial behaviour component scores. 12 principal components were identified that represented facets of spatial behaviour and perception. Canonical analysis revealed 2 underlying dimensions of perceived difficulty in performing spatial behaviours: difficulty with spatial relations in the context of movement and difficulty with judging how things relate to each other or to a larger surround. Sex was more closely related to the former dimension; laterality measures and age were more closely related to the latter. With respect to specific components, women tended to report more difficulty with making judgements in relation to earth-fixed axes but less difficulty in judging relations to nearby objects and how objects fit together or within a surround. Right-handedness was associated with more perceived difficulty in judging spatial relations while driving, overlaying surfaces, and moving in relation to other objects in nearby space. Future confirmatory analyses will be needed to establish subscales of the ESBQ and their usefulness for practical applications.
The authors developed a 12-category, 116-item critical incident questionnaire of spatial behavior. The authors administered the Everyday Spatial Behavioral Questionnaire (ESBQ) to volunteer undergraduates (114 women, and 31 men) and tests of spatial ability to establish both the reliability and construct validity of the instrument. The authors found that Cronbach's alpha across the subscale scores was .92, and that 8 of the 12 subscales had alphas of .70 or greater. The authors found validity of the ESBQ through canonical correlation analysis. Specifically, spatial tests, gender, and age variables, jointly with the ESBQ subscales, identified 2 apparent continua of spatial skills. The authors labeled the first continuum movement through space (from moving a vehicle at one end of the continuum, to moving one's own body through space at the other end of the continuum). The authors labeled the second identified continuum drawing/perceiving perspective/path finding, and it appeared to represent a continuum of 3-dimensional visualization or redirection. Another suggested label was dimensional discernment. Thus, the ESBQ is a first step toward identifying new ways to think about and quantify people's spatial experience.
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