The effectiveness of using the Successive Perception Test I to measure visual -haptic ability in engineering students
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of using the Successive Perception Test I to identify visual-haptic tendencies in a population of freshman engineering students. Since spatial abilities have been attributed to success in many fields including engineering, and visual-haptic learning styles have been shown to influence instruction of spatial tasks, it is important to have effective means of measuring these learning styles. Individually administered tests have proved both reliable and valid, but are time consuming to administer to a large population. Group administrable tests have had their reliability and validity questioned. The results of the group-administered Successive Perception Test I (SPT) for the study population of freshman engineers were compared to their results on the group-administered Purdue Spatial Visualization Test. Visualization of Rotations (PSVT) and the individually administered Haptic Visual Discrimination Test (HVDT). In contrast with the theory that haptic subjects are not visual, the mean score for the population on the HVDT, a test of haptic ability, was one standard deviation above the norm, while 95 percent of the population scored as “visual” on the SPT. The test scores for the entire population on the SPT and HVDT were significantly positively correlated. These results suggest that either visual and haptic abilities are not mutually exclusive or the SPT score classifications of visual and haptic tendency are not appropriate for the population of freshman engineering students.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Johnson, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Educational software|Higher education|Educational evaluation
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