Day 101 of 150 Spatial Difficulty 5/10
Spatial skills are trainable, durable, and transfer broadly
Quick answer
Spatial skills are trainable, durable, and transfer broadly. Today's question (Malleability of spatial skills) asks about a finding from Uttal, D. H., Meadow, N. G., Tipton, E., Hand, L. L., Alden, A. R., Warren, C., & Newcombe, N. S. in 2013. The correct option is Substantially malleable, with training effects that are durable and transfer to untrained spatial tasks — full explanation, primary source, and glossary cross-links below.
Today's question
Uttal et al.'s (2013) meta-analysis of 217 spatial-training studies concluded that spatial skills are:
Reveal the answer and explanation
Correct: B — Substantially malleable, with training effects that are durable and transfer to untrained spatial tasks
Pooling 217 studies and over 1,800 effect sizes, Uttal and colleagues (2013) reported a moderate average training gain (Hedges g ≈ 0.47), comparable across age groups, sexes, and a range of training modalities (video games, course-based instruction, structured tasks). Crucially, gains generalized to untrained spatial tasks and persisted over delays of weeks to months. The meta-analysis is now the standard citation for the claim that spatial cognition is genuinely trainable, sharpening the case for explicit spatial-skills instruction in STEM curricula.
About the source
Uttal, D. H., Meadow, N. G., Tipton, E., Hand, L. L., Alden, A. R., Warren, C., & Newcombe, N. S. (2013). The malleability of spatial skills: A meta-analysis of training studies. Psychological Bulletin, 139(2), 352–402.
Every Cognition Bible question cites a primary source — a paper, book chapter, or monograph that exists, that we can point to on Google Scholar, and whose finding the question accurately summarizes. No fabricated authority strings, no name-drops without paper-level grounding.
More from the Cognition Bible
Done with today's question? Play the FOKIQ Daily — six puzzles across six cognitive domains, free, every day.