Training mental rotation skills to improve spatial ability

Prior research indicates that spatial skills, such as Mental Rotation Skills (MRS), are a strong predictor for mathematics achievement. Other studies have shown that MRS can be instilled through training and that they are a good predictor of another spatial skill: route learning and wayfinding skills. This paper explores these assumptions and reports an experiment with 43 undergraduate psychology students from a university in the south of England. Participants were randomly assigned to two conditions. Both groups were given preand post-tests on wayfinding in a maze. The intervention group trained with a MRS tool, based on a standardised MRS task. The control group did filler tasks by completing crossword puzzles. Collectively, the 43 students made 43×48=2064 assessment items for MRS, and 2×43=86 mazes. Although the intervention group showed a decrease in time needed to do the maze task, while the control group saw an increase, these changes were not significant.