Precursors of Spatial Ability: A Longitudinal Study Among the Logoli of Kenya

The present study, a follow-up of 6- to 12-year-old Kenyan children, indicated that there was reasonable continuity of performance on tests of spatial ability from early to later childhood but that a sex difference in spatial ability (found earlier among the same sample) was not displayed in later childhood. With correlational analyses, using a composite spatial score, it was ascertained that the background variables of significance for predicting spatial performance were age, years of schooling (especially for girls), directed distance from home (for boys), and proportion of time spent manipulating objects (the last two indices were derived from naturalistic observations conducted 4 years earlier). The results confirm the earlier finding (Munroe & Munroe, 1971) that movement through the environment is an important source of learning spatial skills for boys. The findings also indicate that direct tuition may be more important for the development of spatial skills in girls.