You may notice that the problem-solving ability of a person is assessed or judged using the reasoning tests. This is because it is believed that the reasoning ability of a person is related to the general intelligence of a person. In other words, it is considered to be effective in determining the cognitive aptitude of an individual. Therefore, reasoning tests are developed to measure the mental ability of a person during the recruitment process. Spatial reasoning is also a part of the psychometric tests that are employed when it comes to assessing the non-verbal skills of a person.

 Spatial reasoning- what is it?

It is also referred to as spatial visualization. It is related to the assessment of a person by assessing how well the person is able to take in a piece of information, abstract information in that and how good he is in applying this information appropriately. In other words, spatial reasoning refers to the ability of a person to be able to see a two or three-dimensional object and be able to manipulate it mentally. This requires skills like visualization and judgment as to whether or not the disparate pieces in the diagram fit or do not fit together. So, it is all about viewing and visualizing a pattern, take time to make a spatial judgment and then solve the problem. This requires critical thinking as well as problem-solving ability. That is why it is considered relevant for a number of jobs.

 Spatial reasoning tests

Spatial reasoning tests involve  measuring the spatial intelligence  and the ability of the person to

• Rotate shapes and objects mentally to determine if they are two different shapes or the same shapes that are differently oriented.
• Judge the shape into which the two-dimensional shape would be folded into. In other words, it refers to the ability to construct 2D patterns into 3D shapes mentally.
• Organizing shapes that are cut up from a shape into a whole mentally
• Being able to choose the right mirror image of the shape following a spatial change.

Since these tests involve reasoning, visualization, thinking and problem-solving skills they have used to assess the capacity of a person especially when they go in for a job interview for evaluation purposes. This becomes especially important if it is for technical engineering jobs, architecture, meteorology, astronomy, etc.

Why it is important in jobs?

Spatial reasoning is important for many jobs. For example, the architects have to be able to visualize the designs of the buildings which are actually 2- dimension drawings in the form of a 3d image mentally. Likewise, chemists must be able to visualize how the molecules bond and their arrangement by translating the 2D images formulas. Since there are molecules with mirror images referred to as chirality in which one set could be a medicine while the other might have certain side effects, spatial orientation could be a key factor. In the case of an engineer, the ability to visualize the synergy of the working and moving parts might be essential to solving problems. For astronomers, the arrangement of planets in the solar system and their movement requires spatial intelligence.

Last but not least, it seems to be of use even for games such as football, basketball, etc for predicting where and how the ball would land. That is why spatial intelligence or skill is being tested in the selection process.