Spatial versus object visualisation: The case of mathematical understanding in three-dimensional arrays of cubes and nets

This paper investigates the relations of students’ spatial and object visualisation with their analytic, creative and practical abilities in three-dimensional geometry. Fifty-three 11-year-olds were tested using a Greek modified version of the Object–Spatial Imagery Questionnaire (OSIQ) (Blajenkova, Kozhevnikov, & Motes, 2006) and two mathematics tests, one on three-dimensional arrays of cubes and one on nets. The results suggest that spatial visualisation was related to students’ practical abilities in three-dimensional arrays of cubes, whereas object visualisation was related to students’ creative abilities in nets. Furthermore, high and low spatial visualisers differed in their practical abilities in three-dimensional arrays of cubes and in their analytic abilities in nets, whereas, high and low object visualisers differed in their creative abilities in nets.