Mean Differences among Subcomponents of Vandenberg's Mental Rotation Test

Abstract

The current investigation was designed to answer three questions: is the sex difference on Vandenberg's Mental Rotation Test present in all five subsections, what is the relation with performance, and what are the estimates of split-half reliability. Undergraduate students (55 men and 52 women) enrolled in introductory psychology courses were administered Vandenberg's test and were given 6 min. to complete the test. An over-all significant sex difference indicated men's mean performance was significantly higher than women's “total item score” and “total ratio item score,” but only for Section 4(D). This suggests that men were not significantly better at identifying all types of visual spatial items on all parts of Vandenberg's test and that the source of the sex difference may be due, at least in pan, to performance factors. Reliability measures for Vandenberg's test were established for the 6-min. completion time. Spearman-Brown reliability coefficient was calculated for the “item score,” “ratio item score,” and “attempted item” scores (.86, .85, and .93, respectively).