Abstract
The Santa Barbara Solids Test (SBST) is a new measure of spatial ability which tests skills that are necessary for many Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) disciplines. The SBST consists of geometric forms that are bisected by a plane. The participant must determine the nature of the bisection by distinguishing which one of the multiple choice 2D shapes would be the result from the bisection of the form. The success of the participant requires the ability to encode visual information accurately and visualize the manipulation of the stimuli. The SBST has been validated with college-age students, but should be tested in other populations for broader use. Because spatial visualization is shown to decline with age (Verhaeghen & Salthouse, 1997), the current study tested the SBST in older and younger adults to compare the efficacy of the novel measure. Twenty-seven participants, 17 Young Adults (18-34) and 10 Older Adults (64-82), completed the SBST and two other measures of spatial visualization (The Paper Folding Test and an adaptation of the Visualization of Views Test). Results were consistent with previous studies using the SBST, showing that the SBST correlates with other measures of spatial visualization (Cohen & Hegarty, 2012). The younger adults marginally outperformed older adults on the SBST. Furthermore, results indicated that older adults in a STEM field performed better on the SBST than older adults in a Non-STEM discipline, and the SBST could be used as a measure of spatial visualization.
Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2013