Block design as a measure of everyday spatial ability: A study of ecological validity

This study investigated the effectiveness of the WAIS-R Block Design subtes t to predict everyday spatial ability for 65 university undergraduates (15 men, 50 women) who were administered Block Design, the Standardized Road Ma p Test of Direction Sense, and the Everyday Spatial Activities Test. In add ition, the verbally loaded National Adult Reading Test was administered to assess whether the more visuospatial Block Design subtest was a better pred ictor of spatial ability. Moderate support was found. When age and sex were accounted for, Block Design accounted fur 36% of the variance in performan ce (r = -.62) on the Road Map Test and 19% of the variance on the performan ce of the Everyday Spatial Activities Test (r = .42). In contrast, the scor es on the National Adult Reading Test did not predict performance on the Ro ad Map Test or Everyday Spatial Abilities Test. This suggests that, with ap propriate caution, Block Design could be used as a measure of everyday spat ial abilities.