The present study was designed to determine if the number of points on the perimeter of block designs affects the difficulty level of the designs. A block-design test was constructed, using four designs each in 4 complexity groupings. Variables commonly used to increase the difficulty of block designs—such as number of blocks, color, and use of the diagonal—were controlled throughout the 16 designs. Differences between complexity groups were significant, and there were no significant sex differences. The results indicate that difficulty is a function of point complexity, although use of the diagonal is also an important factor.
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