Assessing visual-spatial talents: the use of the Impossible Figures Task with Chinese students in Hong Kong
Abstract
Ninety university undergraduate students were tested on a number of tasks assessing their recognition of possible and impossible figures, mental rotation, ideational fluency, and self-report artistic and creative characteristics. Scores on the Impossible Figures Task (IFT-14) and the Mental Rotation Test, and self-ratings on the Artistic Characteristics Rating Scale were found to differentiate among Fine Arts students, Architecture students, and students from Arts Faculty disciplines less related to visual-spatial abilities, suggesting that the IFT-14 could be used to assess visual-spatial or visual arts talents. The application of the IFT-14 with the same related measures to a sample of 103 primary and secondary gifted students provided further supporting evidence. Implications of the findings on the development of more sensitive measures for identifying students with visual-spatial or visual arts talents are discussed.