# A Global Overview of SVA--Spatial-Visual Ability
## 6 Discussion  
Though studies of spatial-visual ability are extensive, research conducted on children below the age of 5 years is scarce, composing only 2.29% of all included studies; however, critical development of the cognitive abilities takes place in this developmental state. Both studies, as mentioned, emphasise the mental rotation aspect of the ability, as that is the only construct applicable within the age bracket of children until the age of 5 years. There is tremendous scope for developing assessments and techniques for evaluation as well as enhancement of spatial-visualisation ability in children. It is evident that spatial training has a greater impact on younger children (6 years to 8 years old), but there is a dearth of research focused on this specific group, with relevant papers constituting 3.44% of all studies included; this research gap prevents researchers from accurately tracking development or assessing the effectiveness of interventions. With barely 5.74% of the research concentrating on school-aged children and teenagers (9 years to 15 years old), a sizeable research gap within this age bracket is apparent. The studies here concentrate on assessing and enhancing the spatial-visual ability of school-aged children and understanding the impact of external influences on their cognition. A variety of sectors are covered in the limited studies conducted on teenagers (16 years to 17 years old). At 4.59% of the total studies, they covered the correlates of performance in spatial ability, refinements of existing evaluation techniques to better assess the spatial cognition of learners, novel assessment tools, and digitally enabled methods to improve learners' spatial-visualisation abilities. The inquiry into spatial skills has been most prominent in the technical fields of engineering, science, mathematics, etc., in which researchers aim to understand its relationship with social and economic factors, among other factors of demography. The differences between genders in spatial cognition, wherein men outperform women, appear to be maintained across every age range and testing modality. At 44.81% of all studies included, most of the studies involve individuals ranging from 18 years to 22 years old. Within this age bracket, most of the studies are in the fields of STEM, geometry, geography, architecture, interior design, product design, and design, stipulating the significance of spatial-visual ability as a vital capacity for these technical and design domains. Another quarter of the research is dedicated to understanding the ramifications of social and economic status on spatial cognition, developing evaluation criteria, and developing training strategies supported by those criteria. Utilisation of digital tools has become a norm for the enhancement as well as the measurement of spatial visualisation ability. Historically, spatial-visual ability was regarded as a crucial skill in the selection of candidates for professions requiring mechanical aptitude and technical competence. In the vast domain of spatial cognition, a wide array of categories has been identified, with a variety of assessment measures developed for each category. Among the vast array of techniques established over the years to assess spatial-visual ability, apart from the Architecture and Interior Design Domain-Specific Spatial Ability Test (AISAT V.2) [22], none of the other tests encompass all the required subconstructs specific to architecture and interior design. The number of studies falls drastically to 6.89% once the individuals complete formal education and enter professional life (23 years old and above). As their career path is defined, their performance in their professions is measured against their academic achievements to comprehend the influences on their spatial cognition. Many studies focus on the selection of spatial strategies to resolve space-related tasks. A total of 17.23% of research does not take specific age groups into account.