The Social Shapes Test as a Self-Administered, Online Measure of Social Intelligence: Two Studies with Typically Developing Adults and Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder

The Social Shapes Test (SST) is a measure of social intelligence which does not use human faces or rely on extensive verbal ability. The SST has shown promising validity among adults without autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but it is uncertain whether it is suitable for adults with ASD. We find measurement invariance between adults with (n = 229) or without ASD (n = 1,049) on the 23-item SST. We also find that adults without ASD score higher on the SST than adults with ASD (d = 0.21). We also provide two, 14-item versions which demonstrated good parallel test-retest reliability and are positively related to scores on the Frith-Happé task. The SST is suitable for remote, online research studies.

How Can We Best Assess Spatial Skills? Practical and Conceptual Challenges

Spatial thinking skills are associated with performance, persistence, and achievement in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) school subjects. Because STEM knowledge and skills are integral to developing a well-trained workforce within and beyond STEM, spatial skills have become a major focus of cognitive, developmental, and educational research. However, these efforts are greatly hampered by the current lack of access to reliable, valid, and well-normed spatial tests. Although there are hundreds of spatial tests, they are often hard to access and use, and information about their psychometric properties is frequently lacking. Additional problems include (1) substantial disagreement about what different spatial tests measure-even two tests with similar names may measure very different constructs; (2) the inability to measure some STEM-relevant spatial skills by any existing tests; and (3) many tests only being available for specific age groups. The first part of this report delineates these problems, as documented in a series of structured and open-ended interviews and surveys with colleagues. The second part outlines a roadmap for addressing the problems. We present possibilities for developing shared testing systems that would allow researchers to test many participants through the internet. We discuss technological innovations, such as virtual reality, which could facilitate the testing of navigation and other spatial skills. Developing a bank of testing resources will empower researchers and educators to explore and support spatial thinking in their disciplines, as well as drive the development of a comprehensive and coherent theoretical understanding of spatial thinking.

The Relationship Between Religiousness/Spirituality and Psychometric Intelligence in the United States

An inverse relationship between religiousness/spirituality (R/S) and psychometric intelligence (IQ) is well-documented in previous literature. However, the studies that have examined group differences on IQ regarding R/S have limited generalizability. The present study contributed to the literature by evaluating IQ among participants identifying as differentially religious/spiritual (i.e., religious only, spiritual only, both religious and spiritual, or neither religious nor spiritual) and among those classified as either Christian/Catholic, Atheist, or Agnostic. Four hundred and thirty-two participants (M age = 37.9; 36% men) participated online via Amazon's Mechanical Turk as part of a larger study and completed a brief measure of IQ, a scale of religiousness and spirituality, and a demographics questionnaire. Correlations between IQ and self-reported religiousness/spirituality were small and negative (Mean r = -0.17), consistent with previous literature. Multivariate analyses of covariance (MANCOVAs) controlling for age, gender, education, and socioeconomic status (operationalized by estimated annual household income) indicated that IQ scores tended to be lowest (p < 0.001) for "religious only" participants (estimated marginal mean [EMM] = 93.0) and highest for "neither religious nor spiritual" participants (EMM = 103.7). Furthermore, IQ scores were significantly lower (ps < 0.001) for Christian/Catholic participants (EMM = 96.7) compared to both Atheist (EMM = 104.9) and Agnostic participants (EMM = 107.5). Discussion of these findings, relationships to previous theoretical and empirical work, limitations of the present study, and directions for future inquiry are provided.