Development of a Test to Measure Spatial Abilities Associated with Apparel Design and Product Development

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop a test that measures spatial skills relative to product development and apparel design. To provide some support for content validity, the test included components of spatial products, spatial storage, and spatial thought. As evidence of the type of spatial ability measured by the test, an established test that measures spatial relations (Differential Aptitude Test-Space Relations) (DATSR) was correlated with the newly developed test. To provide preliminary statistical data regarding the test, a between-subjects design study was conducted with clothing construction/patternmaking training (none, some) as the independent variable. Dependent variables were the Apparel Spatial Visualization Test (ASVT) and the DATSR. To evidence content validity of the test, scores on the ASVT should reflect improvement in spatial abilities as a function of training. Students with some training scored higher on the ASVT but did not differ in their scores on the DATSR compared to those with no training. This provides some evidence that the ASVT measures spatial skills specific to apparel design and product development. The ASVT and the DATSR were not significantly correlated.

Keywords

Key Words: spatial abilities apparel design product development.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Armstrong, H. (1995). Patternmaking for fashion design. (2nd edition) New York: HarperCollins.

Baron, J. (1978). Intelligence and general strategies. In G. Underwood (Ed.), Strategies in information processing (pp. 403-450). London: Academic Press.

Davis, M. (1996). Visual design in dress (Third edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Dolber, R. (1989). Opportunities in fashion careers. Lincolnwood, IL: NTC Publishing Group.

Eliot, J. , & Smith, I. (1983). An international directory of spatial tests. Windsor, Berks: NFER-Nelson .

Franz, W. , MacDonald, N. , & Grocott, P. (1985). The importance of mathematical and logical skills to clothing construction. Illinois Teacher of Home Economics , 29(1), 35-38.

Frings, G. (1996). Fashion: From concept to consumer (5th Edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Glock , R. , & Kunz, G. (1995). Apparel manufacturing: Sewn product analysis. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Humphreys, L. , Lubinski, D. , & Yao, G. (1993). Utility of predicting group membership and the role of spatial visualization in becoming an engineer, physical scientist, or artist. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78(2), 250-261.

Jarnow, J. , & Dickerson, K. (1997). Inside the fashion business. New York: Merrill/Prentice Hall.

10.

Jernigan, M. , & Easterling, C. (1990). Fashion merchandising and marketing. New York: Macmillan . Kadolph, S. , & Langford , A. (1998). Textiles. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

11.

Lajoie, S. (1986). Individual differences in spatial ability: A computerized tutor for orthographic projection tasks. Stanford, CA: Stanford University.

12.

Liben, L. (1981). Spatial representation and behavior: Multiple perspectives. In L. Liben , A. Patterson , & N. Newcomb (Eds.), Spatial representation and behavior across the life span (pp. 3-36). New York: Academic Press.

13.

Lounsbury, J. , & Gibson, L. (1987, February). Standardizing marker maker selection: Levi's approach. Bobbin, 68, 70, 72-73.

14.

MacDonald, N. , & Franz, W. (1989). Spatial, mathematical, and cognitive abilities and performance in clothing construction courses. West Virginia Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station Annual Report. West Virginia University.

15.

Mauro, L. (1996). Careers for fashion plates & other trendsetters . Lincolnwood, IL: NTC Publishing Group.

16.

McGee, M. (1979). Human spatial abilities: Sources of sex differences . New York: Praeger.

17.

Miller, C. , & Bertoline, G. (1991, Autumn). Spatial visualization research and theories: Their importance in the development of an engineering and technical design graphics curriculum model. Engineering Design Graphics Journal , 55(3), 5-14.

18.

The Psychological Corporation. (1995). Resources for measuring educational performance. San Antonio : Harcourt Brace.

19.

Roth, S. (1993). Visualization in science and the arts. In Art, science & visual literacy: Selected readings from the Annual Conference of the International Visual Literacy Association (24th, Pittsburg, PA, September 30-October 4, 1992), 81-85.

20.

Salthouse, T. , Babcock, R. , Mitchell, D. , Palmon, R. , & Skovronek, E. (1990). Sources of individual differences in spatial visualization ability. Intelligence, 14, 187-230.

21.

Touliatos, J. , & Compton, N. (1988). Research methods in human ecologylhome economics . Ames: Iowa State University Press .

22.

Vandenberg, S. , & Kuse, A. (1978). Mental rotations, a group test of three-dimensional spatial visualization. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 47, 599-604.