Visual-spatial Intelligence: Definition, Characteristics, and Activities for its Development
The theory of multiple intelligences emphasizes that all intelligences work together; however, each has its essential component. When we mention the ability to locate ourselves in time and space and perceive our reality, we discuss vital skills in our development. Similarly, by interpreting, making, and applying three-dimensional models to daily life, we use visual-spatial intelligence. From childhood, we are born, and we develop this intelligence as we experience, explore, and discover the world around us.
Visual-spatial intelligence is one of the eight intelligences that make up Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences. It is important to remember that Gardner defines intelligence as “the ability to solve problems or produce products that are of importance in a given cultural context or community.”
In his theory, Gardner indicates that there are eight types of intelligence. They work together, but at the same time, they are independent. They all can develop based on stimuli. In this article, we will be describing one of them, visual-spatial intelligence.
Visual-spatial intelligence is the ability to form a mental model of a spatial world and to maneuver and operate using this model. It is the sensitivity that a person can have to color, lines, shapes, space, and relationships between these elements. It is important to mention that visual-spatial intelligence does not necessarily have to be associated with visual ability. Some blind people have excellent spatial skills.
This intelligence is measured together with verbal-linguistic and logical-mathematical intelligence in the IQ test. It encompasses the ability to accurately perceive the visual and spatial world and transform those perceptions into concepts. Previously, the psychologist Louis Leon Thurstone had divided spatial ability into three components. These were:
- the ability to recognize an object, even when viewed from different angles.
- the skill to imagine the internal movement between the parts of a configuration.
- the ability to think about spatial relationships.
Visual-spatial intelligence can be stimulated in the classroom through activities that require creating a visual environment. In this environment, the idea is that students can frequently work with images, portraits, and colors. The teacher can engage students by providing opportunities to read maps and posters, draw diagrams, make illustrations, build models, paint, color, and solve puzzles. In the same way, memory games can be integrated.
Characteristics of people with developed visual-spatial intelligence:
Mental maps
They imagine what streets and places look like when they close their eyes. They have an excellent sense of location and love to direct people along the way.
Enjoy activities related to visual arts such as painting, drawing, and sculpture.
They love to draw, paint, and make sculptures using playdough and clay. They express their feelings through art.
Interpret maps.
They are excellent at interpreting city and subway maps, and locating and remembering key points to find where they are. They can make mental maps using GPS models.
Appreciate the architecture of buildings.
Admire the design of buildings, structures, and parks. They focus on shapes, lines, colors, and spaces.
Play memory games like Memory.
They enjoy playing games of repetition memory and challenge them to remember images, faces of people, or places.
Strategies and materials used by people with developed visual-spatial intelligence:
Education related to the visual arts
Take courses related to the visual arts. They love photography, design, and digital art classes.
Three-dimensional instruments (e.g., Legos, cubes, puzzles, blocks, etc.)
They use three-dimensional instruments to discover, observe and create structures, cities, or decipher puzzles.
Observe and study maps, diagrams, and plans.
They love to observe and study the different routes on the maps. In the same way, they enjoy looking at diagrams and organizing plans.
Use drawing as a means of expression.
Through art, they express their feelings and emotions. They capture their thoughts through drawing. They focus on lines, contour, shadows, colors, and expressions.
Activities you can do to develop your visual-spatial intelligence:
Play Pictionary.
You can play with friends, family, or groups of people. To play Pictionary, all you need is a piece of paper or whiteboard and a marker or pencil to draw on. It can be played in virtual or face-to-face mode. This game stimulates collaborative learning and the visuomotor cortex so that the object of another person must be guessed through their drawing.
Works with puzzles and Rubik’s cube.
You can start with a simple puzzle and increase the number of pieces as you progress and improve the skill of building it. In the same way, you can start by watching videos of using the Rubik’s cube before using it.
Build 3D structures with Legos, Minecraft, or 3D construction objects.
Begins to build structures, cities, or parks using Legos or blocks. This will allow you to have a three-dimensional view of the structure. If you are interested in digitally working on the construction of three-dimensional structures, you can use Minecraft.
When watching movies or short films, focus on the use of lights, camera movement, colors, and other cinematic elements.
Start by studying short videos or movies. Focus on shot changes, color, type of lighting, camera movements, and how all of this influences the audience’s experience.
Take a course in drawing, sculpture, painting, photography, or graphic design.
Start with simple courses on drawings, caricatures, comic strips, and art therapy. You can get these courses near your community or online. Go step by step, documenting your development.
Study city or country maps using paper maps, Google Maps, or another GPS system.
The use of maps, plans, and GPS will allow you to stay ahead of the different new places in town. At the same time, you can develop your directional and location skills.
People with high visual-spatial intelligence can see and perceive things and situations that other people tend to miss. In the same way, they can mold and project these images, whether as drawings, sculptures, mental rotations, transformations, or inventions. Like the other intelligences, it is essential in the life and development of human beings. Visual-spatial intelligence allows us to locate ourselves in time and space, create three-dimensional models and express ourselves artistically. These skills can be developed from childhood, both in the classroom and at home. The more we expose ourselves to map interpretation, problem-solving, and three-dimensional diagrams, the better our ability to develop this intelligence.
References
Armstrong, T. (1993). 7 Kinds of Smart: Identifying and Developing Your Many Intelligences. Plume.
Armstrong, T. (2006). Inteligencias múltiples en el aula. Barcelona: Paidós.
Bartolomei-Torres, P. (2018). Inteligencias múltiples en el aula, un recurso para el aprendizaje significativo en la Enseñanza de una Lengua Extranjera (Ph.D). Universidad de Granada. Recuperado de http://hdl.handle.net/10481/52430
Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of mind. New York: Basic Books.
Gardner, H. (1993). Multiple intelligences. New York: Basic Books.
Hall, M.C. (1999). Multiple Intelligences: Teaching Kids the Way They Learn. Torrance, CA: Frank Schaffer Publications, Inc.
Suazo-Díaz, S. (2006). Inteligencias múltiples: manual práctico para el nivel elemental. San Juan, Puerto Rico: La Editorial, Universidad de Puerto Rico.
