How the Spatial Visualisation task works
The task uses one symbol, shaped like a capital R, and its mirror image. Each box shows a symbol on top and one underneath, both turned to some angle. If the bottom one is the same symbol as the top, just rotated, the box is a matching pair. If it is the mirror image, it can never line up with the top one however far you turn it, so it does not match.
You count the matching pairs and click that number. Each item is reported to hold two boxes, so the answer is 0, 1 or 2.
How to tell a rotation from a mirror image
Use one landmark and one check:
- Find the straight upright stroke, the stem, on the top symbol.
- In your head, turn the top symbol until its stem stands upright with the rounded part at the top. Note which side of the stem the round part sits on.
- Do the same with the bottom symbol. Same side means a match; opposite sides means a mirror image.
- Count the boxes as you go, then click the total.
Worked example
Box one: the top symbol is a normal R. The bottom symbol is lying on its side. Turn it upright and its round part is on the right of the stem, as on a normal R, so this box matches.
Box two: the top symbol is a normal R. The bottom symbol is upside down. Turn it the right way up and its round part is on the left of the stem, a backwards R. That is a mirror image, so this box does not match. One box matches, so you click 1.
Tips for the real Spatial Visualisation task
- Compare the two symbols in each box with each other. The top one can be turned too, so do not assume it is the normal R.
- Treat it as an accuracy task. A wrong answer is reported to cost half a mark, so a fast run with slips can score below a slower clean one.
- Use the practice examples to make the stem check automatic before the clock matters.
- Do not tilt your head or the screen. Turning the shapes in your head is quicker once practised.
- It comes last, after four other timed tasks. Use its practice examples to reset your focus before the clock starts.
Practise GIA Spatial Visualisation on CogniPrep
Our Spatial Visualisation drill gives you generated items with two boxes each, so the answer is 0, 1 or 2, on a 2-minute clock that starts when the first item appears and never pauses, with no fixed count. Either symbol in a box can be the normal or the mirrored form, turned in steps of 45 degrees, and each wrong answer costs half a mark. At the end you see how many items you reached, how many were wrong, your adjusted score and a percentile against CogniPrep players. The 2-minute clock is ours, because Thomas publishes only the 2 to 5 minute range.