The spatial intelligence It is a concept that is derived from the Theory of Multiple Intelligences proposed by psychologist Howard Gardner. This type of intelligence can be defined as the set of mental skills directly related to the navigation and rotation of objects in our mind (that is, its imaginary visualization from different angles). Therefore, spatial intelligence is called that because it is involved in solving spatial problems, whether real or imaginary.
Our success in tasks such as driving and parking a car, building a model, finding your way giving instructions to another person who sees things from another angle or handling more or less complex tools.
Other less frequent activities in which spatial intelligence is strongly involved are, for example, those in which a shape must be sculpted in a material or a plan of a structure must be made. Thus, Both architects and sculptors tend to show a good level of this type of intelligence
Spatial intelligence and vision
Something that we must take into account when understanding the concept of spatial intelligence is that, as such, does not depend on our ability to see through the eyes The determining factor in spatial intelligence is being able to imagine a three-dimensional space that maintains its coherence over time regardless of the angle from which it is mentally viewed.
Of course, sight is one of the most important senses when it comes to learning what our environment is like, but people who are born blind can also use spatial intelligence thanks to the information about the environment that reaches them through hearing, touch, etc.
Can spatial intelligence be improved?
As often happens when dealing with the topic of intelligence, Many people tend to think that these types of mental abilities are innate and are determined by genetic inheritance In the case of spatial intelligence, there is also the fact that several investigations seem to suggest that men have somewhat superior spatial abilities when compared to the opposite sex.
However, spatial intelligence can be improved with some training as occurs with intelligence in general.
It has been shown that practicing exercises similar to those used to evaluate the level of spatial intelligence is practical to improve this dimension of cognitive abilities. These exercises consist, for example, of spatial rotation tasks, comparison of two objects placed in different positions which may be the same or only similar, spatial attention to various stimuli, etc.
So… how to improve it?
The specific exercises that have been proven effective in improving spatial intelligence are difficult to access from home, and in any case belong to training programs directed by specialists. However, that does not mean that we cannot include in our daily lives some tasks that emulate the logic used in these laboratory tests. For it All you have to do is take into account what spatial intelligence is and add creativity.
For example, driving a car regularly (and safely) can help, since we have to take into account the situation of all parts of its surface. Learning to plan the placement of figures in drawings created by us also involves the challenge of distributing objects that, although two-dimensional, occupy space. The same goes for slightly more demanding (and expensive) tasks, such as carving a figure out of a block of wood. Any of these activities reinforces our cognitive skills linked to spatial and visual intelligence.
Likewise, there are games whose mechanics are directly related to the testing of spatial skills and, by extension, spatial intelligence. Among traditional games we could name, for example, tangrams and the Rubik’s cubes . On the other hand, some examples of video games that pose a special challenge to our spatial intelligence could be Portal, Antichamber or QUBE although classic three-dimensional platform games such as super mario galaxy They can also go well, since you have to take into account the position of the camera, that of the character and the location where you want to land on each jump.
Let it not be said that exercising intelligence is boring!