Can You Visualize a 3D Object from a Diagram?

High “spatial ability” in adolescence, including the capacity to visualize 3D objects from 2D patterns, is a statistically significant predictor of later creativity in science and technology, says a team led by Harrison J. Kell of Vanderbilt University. In a longitudinal study of intellectually talented American 13-year-olds, spatial ability predicted 7.6% of the variance, 30 years later, in the participants’ likelihood of holding patents and being authors of refereed publications. The findings support the argument that in omitting assessments of spatial ability, SATs and other standard college-admission tests fail to measure a dimension of cognitive ability that has crucial real-world significance, the authors say.