Spatial Visualisation and Cognitive Style: How Do Gender Differences Play Out?

This study investigated potential gender differences in a sample of 807 Year 6 Singaporean students in relation to two variables: spatial visualisation ability and cognitive style. In contrast to the general trend, overall there were no significant gender differences on spatial visualisation ability. However, gender differences were prevalent among students who possessed high spatial visualisation ability, in favour of boys. In terms of cognitive style, there were significant gender differences in the spatial imagery and verbal information processing dimensions. Boys gave higher ratings to their spatial-imagery encoding and processing preferences than their verbal information processing preferences. Some of these findings are in contrast to studies undertaken in the educational-psychology literature. Implications are drawn regarding pedagogical practices in Singaporean schools.