# A Global Overview of SVA--Spatial-Visual Ability
## 5 Results
### Analysis by the Age Categories and Assessment Tools
#### 5.1.5 Ages 18 Years to 22 Years--University and Graduate Students (A5)  
Table 7 shows the largest number of studies conducted in participants of age 18 to 22 years, typically university going students. Mental rotation is the most common ability within the subconstruct of spatial-visual ability that is tested within the domain of engineering--STEM, geometry and geography. All four studies conducted for this age group from the year 2013 to 2018 used either the Mental Rotations Test (MRT) [32] or the Revised Purdue Spatial Visualization Test: Visualisation of Rotations (PSVT:R) [33]. Authors [PERSON], [PERSON], [PERSON] and [PERSON] [34] presented comprehensive and reliable psychometric data on the Revised PSVT:R as a suitable assessment tool for STEM fields based on scores collected from 2469 participants enrolled in the first-year engineering program at a public university in the United States. On the other hand, [PERSON], [PERSON] and [PERSON] [35] employed the Mental Rotations Test (MRT) to conclude that the capacity to visualise space is a crucial aspect of intelligence and vital for success in the engineering and technological professions. [PERSON] and [PERSON] from Turkey observed a correlation involving spatial aptitude and scholastic achievement [36] and suggested long-term research aimed at the way potential teachers' spatial abilities evolve over time to identify effective techniques for improving them. In 2018, an inquiry conducted by [PERSON], [PERSON], and [PERSON] deduced that remedial training in spatial skills improved first-year engineering students' academic performance, especially in STEM courses, and emphasised the need for further investigations to understand the lasting impacts of spatial-skills intervention on the professional prospects of engineering students [4]. The findings of a Portugal-based study [37] indicate that the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) is linked to enhanced spatial abilities in students, regardless of their cognitive ability, academic discipline, or gender; this result underscores the beneficial influence of GIS exposure on spatial-visual abilities. Notably, studies examining this age bracket were associated even published papers, the maximum number among studies of all age brackets, and they cover the domains of STEM, along with socioeconomic factors, demographics and gender differences equally. Of the two studies conducted in the 90s, ref. [38] established that the redesigned MRT [32] produces substantial, consistent gender differences affirming the original version; along with [39] who also confirmed that men demonstrated superior performance in mental rotation tasks, possessed better knowledge of geography as well as varied navigation tactics. Both of these studies employed MRT [32] as part of their methods. Two separate Europe-based studies conducted in the 2000s in the area of descriptive geometry that utilised MCT [40] as one of their methods concluded that that there were notable disparities, confirming a variation in spatial ability between the genders [41]; assessment of the participants at the start and conclusion of two academic semesters found significant improvement in spatial ability over this time [42]. [PERSON] and [PERSON] verified the development of the Santa Barbara Solids Test (SBST) [43] a psychometric test of cross-sectioning capacity; this ability is vital for STEM fields, and the study indicated that on tasks that are challenging to analyse, men do better than women. A French study published in 2021 supported the premise that there exists a correlation between spatial visualisation and academic performance that includes 2D and 3D visual representations [9]. It employed the MRT [32], the MCT [40] and the Revised PSVT:R [33] to find that students with technical backgrounds scored better, while female students fell behind male students.