Do You Think in Pictures, Diagrams or Words?
Three ways of holding the world in your head - and why this is not a learning style
For a century people were sorted into visualisers and verbalisers. Cognitive neuroscience then showed that the visual side hides two different systems: one that handles colour, shape and detail - what things look like - and one that handles location, movement and structure - where things are and how they fit together. Painters tend to be strong on the first, engineers on the second, writers on words. This test places you on all three.
Before you start There are no right answers. Pick what is usually true for you, not what sounds best.
Think about how you handle everyday tasks - remembering a face, following directions, planning a trip - rather than about what you were told at school.
What it measures
The three cognitive styles of the object-spatial-verbal model: object imagery, meaning vivid and detailed pictures of how things look; spatial imagery, meaning schematic representations of where things are and how they move or fit; and verbal processing, meaning thinking through words. These are habits of mental representation, not a learning style - nothing here claims you learn better when taught in one format.
Based on: Object-Spatial Imagery and Verbal Questionnaire, OSIVQ (Blazhenkova & Kozhevnikov, 2009)
Possible results
Object imagery
Vivid mental pictures of what things look like.
Spatial imagery
Mental maps of where things are and how they move.
Verbal
Thinking and remembering through words.
Common questions
Is this a learning styles test?
No, and the difference matters. Learning styles theories claim that people learn more when taught in their preferred mode. A 2008 review by Pashler and colleagues found very few studies designed to test that claim properly, and those that were did not support it. The object-spatial-verbal model describes a real difference in how you represent information, but it does not follow that you should only be taught in pictures or in words.
What is the difference between object and spatial imagery?
Object imagery is about appearance: colour, shape, texture and faces, the kind of picture a painter holds. Spatial imagery is about relations: where things are, how they move and how parts fit, the kind of schema an engineer uses. They draw on partly separate systems in the brain, and in Kozhevnikov's research visualisers tended to be good at one and not the other.
Can I get better at spatial thinking?
Spatial skills are generally considered among the more trainable cognitive skills: regular practice with drawing, building, puzzles and reading maps instead of following turn-by-turn directions tends to improve them. Whether practice changes your preferred style, rather than just your skill, is much less clear.
Is one style better than the others?
No. Each fits different work: object imagery suits visual art and design, spatial imagery suits science, engineering and navigation, and verbal thinking suits writing, law and teaching. Most people use all three and lean on one or two, and many tasks go best when you deliberately switch to the style you use least.
Sources
- Blazhenkova, O., & Kozhevnikov, M. (2009). The new object-spatial-verbal cognitive style model: Theory and measurement. Applied Cognitive Psychology. doi:10.1002/acp.1473
- Kozhevnikov, M., Kosslyn, S., & Shephard, J. (2005). Spatial versus object visualizers: A new characterization of visual cognitive style. Memory & Cognition. doi:10.3758/BF03195337
- Pashler, H., McDaniel, M., Rohrer, D., & Bjork, R. (2008). Learning styles: Concepts and evidence. Psychological Science in the Public Interest. doi:10.1111/j.1539-6053.2009.01038.x
An honest note The statements are Quinthea's own wording, adapted from the three scales of the Object-Spatial Imagery and Verbal Questionnaire, so your scores cannot be compared with published norms. Self-reports of imagery are only moderately related to performance on actual imagery tasks. Above all, this is not a learning style: a major 2008 review found no good evidence that teaching people in their preferred format improves learning. Your profile describes how you tend to think, not how you should be taught.