The development of early visual-spatial abilities – considering effects of test mode

Early visual-spatial abilities (VSA) were suggested to comply with a two-by-two structure differentiating between intrinsic-extrinsic and static-dynamic dimensions that follow hierarchical development. However, recent studies revealed inconsistencies regarding the structure and development of VSA for different test modes (i.e., tablet-based and non-digital testing). Thus, the structure of early VSA in 84 German-speaking children aged four to six years was evaluated, using a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) approach, for tablet-based and non-digital assessments separately and as a joint model. In addition, the influence of test mode on behavioral data regarding children's performance and the hierarchical development of VSA was addressed. CFA results support recent propositions on the structure of early VSA irrespective of test mode. However, results only partially supported the assumed hierarchical development of VSA due to considerable differences in task difficulty between test modes. Overall, these results corroborate the view of a similar structure underlying assessments of VSA across tablet-based and non-digital testing but only lend partial support to the idea of a hierarchical development of VSA.