Abstract
Data of item responses to the Impossible Figures Task (IFT) from 492 Chinese primary, secondary, and university students were analyzed using the dichotomous Rasch measurement model. Item difficulty estimates and person ability estimates located on the same logit scale revealed that the pooled sample of Chinese students, who were relatively highly able, might find it relatively easy to complete the IFT, and there might be relatively fewer number of items at the higher end than at the lower end of the item difficulty scale. The substantial correlation between person ability estimates and external criterion measures (mental rotation test scores and judged drawing scores) provided support for the validity of the IFT in identifying visual-spatial talents among students. Implications of the findings for the use and the future development or refinement of the IFT are discussed.
Assessing and identifying visual-spatial talents in students is important as a first step to support and enhance their optimal talent development. This study provides supporting evidence that the rapid recognition of impossible figures using the Impossible Figures Task (IFT) could be indicative of students’ global visual-spatial ability. Thus, the IFT could be used as a part of a more comprehensive assessment protocol for students. Specifically, based on the present Rasch scaling, teachers and education practitioners could administer the IFT with items ordered in ascending item difficulties such that students could be placed along a scale of increasing person abilities. Depending on the purpose of the assessment, a cutoff score could also be flexibly determined for talent identification to suit specific educational settings and cultural contexts. Alternatively, targeting for particular regions of person abilities or talent potentials, selected item sets could also be used, as in the use of some forms of adaptive testing.
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