Sex-Linked Inheritance of Spatial Ability

Abstract

Studies involving the inheritance of primary mental abilities in twins have generally shown that spatial ability appears to be the ability most influenced by hereditary factors (Thurstone, Thurstone, & Strandskov, 1955; Vandenberg, 1965). Stafford (1961), using the Identical Blocks Test as a measure of spatial visualization, demonstrated that a sex-linked recessive gene may be involved in the transmission of spatial abilities. The present study represented an attempt to replicate Stafford's earlier work, using a test which represented a reasonably pure measure of spatial visualization ability.