Developmental Patterns of Object vs. Spatial Visualization Abilities

We analyzed data from a large sample of children and adults (10 to 60 years old) and revealed differences between object and spatial developmental curves. Performance on spatial imagery tasks peaked in puberty and then gradually declined. In contrast, performance on  object imagery tasks tended to increase with age, but more smoothly than on spatial measures, and did not show age-related decline as on spatial measures (Blazhenkova & Kozhevnikov, 2007; Blazhenkova, Becker, Kozhevnikov, in press).

Furthermore, gifted children with interests and outstanding abilities in the fields of natural science, and visual art, humanities showed very similar patterns of performance on imagery tasks to those of adult professionals and college students specializing in visual art, science and humanities. (Kozhevnikov, Blazhenkova, Becker, 2010). These results suggest that dissociation between object and spatial imagery in individual differences might develop early in age, long before any comprehensive professional training.