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Abstract Even though successful navigation is vital for survival, individuals vary widely in their navigation skills. Researchers have examined the correlates of such variation using a wide variety of paradigms. However, we know little about the relation among the paradigms used, and their validity for real-world behaviors. In this study, we assessed 94 young adult participants’ encoding of environmental features in one real-world and two virtual environments (or paradigms), using a within-subjects design. Each paradigm involved building a map from memory and pointing to the location of objects while standing at different locations in the environment. Two of the paradigms also used a route efficiency task in which participants aimed to take the shortest possible path to a target object. Factor analysis showed shared and unique variance in individual’s performance associated with each paradigm. Mental rotation and perspective taking tasks correlated with navigation performance differently for different paradigms. The data suggest that (1) virtual measures correlate with real-world ones, (2) the specific tasks used (pointing, map building, shortest route finding) are less important than the paradigm, and (3) there is common variance (i.e., shared individual differences) across paradigms. However, there is also unique paradigm-specific variation. Future research should use multiple paradigms to achieve reliable and valid assessments, ideally with shorter tasks for each. 

Abstract Non-rigid spatial thinking, or mental transformations where the distance between two points in an object changes (e.g., folding, breaking, bending), is required for many STEM fields but remains critically understudied. We developed and tested a non-rigid, ductile spatial skill measure based on reasoning about knots with 279 US adults (M = 30.90, SD 5.47 years; 76% White; 48% women). The resultant 54-item measure had good reliability (α = .88). Next, 147 US adults (M = 20.65, SD 2.80 years; 48% White; 56% women) completed existing spatial skills measures, the knot reasoning measure, a verbal skill measure, and surveys of current and childhood spatial activities. Knot reasoning performance was significantly, positively correlated with existing measures of spatial skill. Mental rotation and paper folding, but not bending, predicted knot reasoning task performance. We replicated work showing that men performed better than women on mental rotation and unexpectedly found that men also outperformed women on paper folding and knot reasoning, but not bending, tasks. Using structural equation modeling, we found several significant mediation effects. Men who reported less masculine-stereotyped spatial activity engagement had higher performance on the mental rotation and knot reasoning tasks. Women who reported greater engagement in feminine-stereotyped spatial activities had higher paper folding and backwards knot reasoning performance. Spatial skills did not differ among math-intensive STEM, non-math-intensive STEM, and non-STEM majors. The studies introduce a reliable measure of non-rigid, ductile string transformations and provide initial evidence of the role of gender and gendered spatial activities on non-rigid spatial skills. 

Abstract In this review, I summarize what we know about the development of sex‐related differences in spatial skills, their potential malleability, and their possible causes. Current evidence suggests that sex differences increase in size with age, at least for skills with assessments suitable for use across development. However, male advantages vary from nonexistent to substantial, depending on the skills assessed, task parameters, and culture. Training and practice can improve spatial skills, although interventions tested so far do not eliminate the male advantage (when there is one). The complex pattern of increases with age, task variation, and cultural variation challenges efforts to theorize about causation. Progress requires identifying the underlying cognitive and neural structure of the spatial domain, developing reliable and valid assessment tools suitable for use across wide age ranges, gathering large datasets from a variety of cultural settings, and identifying and investigating specific mechanisms for growth and change.