Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Dyslexia and Visual-Spatial Talents

  • Published:
Current Psychology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The hypothesis about the association of dyslexia with visual-spatial talents is still not verified. Evidence is inconsistent, ranging from inferior to superior visual-spatial abilities in individuals with dyslexia. Using a variety of visual-spatial tasks, this study tested the hypothesis that dyslexia is associated with superior visual-spatial ability. The results suggest that children with dyslexia performed equivalently to the controls on most tasks. On one measure, however, they were superior. They were significantly better than controls on the analytic spatial test. Results also showed that they were worse in solving visual-spatial tasks that include implicit memory.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Akshoomoff, N. A., Feroleto, C. C., Doyle, R. E., & Stiles, J. (2002). The impact of early unilateral brain injury on perceptual organization and visual memory. Neuropsychologia, 40, 539–561.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • Attree, E. A., Turner, M. J., & Cowell, N. (2009). A virtual reality test identifies the visuospatial strengths of adolescents with dyslexia. Cybernetics Psychology and Behavior, 12(2), 163–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bacon, A. M., & Handley, S. J. (2010). Dyslexia and reasoning: the importance of visual processes. British Journal of Psychology, 101(Pt 3), 433–52.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Biro, M. (1987). Test vizuelnog pamćenja (Test of visual memory). Beograd: Savez drustava psihologije SR Srbije.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brunswick, N., Martin, G. N., & Marzano, L. (2010). Visuospatial superiority in developmental dyslexia: myth or reality? Learning and Individual Differences, 20(5), 421–426.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cahn, D. A., Marcottelr, A. C., Stern, R. A., Arruda, J. E., Akshoomoff, N. A., & Leshko, I. C. (1996). The boston qualitative scoring system for the Rey-osterrieth complex figure: a study of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 10(4), 397–406.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, S. K. (1999). Effect of spatial perception level and gender using Two and three dimensional graphics. PAACE Journal of Lifelong Learning, 8, 53–67.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooper, L. A., & Shepard, R. N. (1973). The time required to prepare for a rotated stimulus. Memory and Cognition, 1, 246–250.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Corballis, M. C., Macadie, L., & Beale, I. L. (1985). Mental rotation and visual laterality in normal and reading disabled children. Cortex a Journal Devoted to the Study of the Nervous System and Behavior, 21(2), 225–236.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Djuric, T. R. (1981). Test vizuelne percepcije „Elektricna mreza“(Test of Visual Perception „Electric grid). Beograd: Savez drustava psihologa Srbije.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duranovic, M. (2013). Test za procjenu disleksije (Dyslexia Screening Test). In M. Duranovic & Z. Mrkonjic (Eds.), Procjena disleksije (Dyslexia Assessment). Tuzla: Print-Com.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ekstrom, R. B., French, J. W., Harman, H. H., & Dermen, D. (1976). Kit of factor referenced cognitive tests. Princeton: Educational Testing Service.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fajgelj, S., Bala, G., & Tubic, T. (2007). Ravenove progresivne matrice u boji—osnovna merna svojstva i norme. (Raven’s coloured progressive matrices - the basic measuring properties and norms). Psihologija, 40(2), 293–308.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fawcett, A. J., & Nicolson, R. I. (1995). Persistent deficits in motor skill for children with dyslexia. Journal of Motor Behavior, 27, 235–240.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fischer, B., Hartnegg, K., & Mokler, A. (2000). Dynamic visual perception of dyslexic children. Perception, 29(5), 523–30.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Folbrecht, J. R., Charter, R. A., Walden, D. K., & Dobbs, S. M. (1999). Psychometric properties of the Boston qualitative scoring system for the Rey-osterrieth complex figure. The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 13(4), 442–449.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Geschwind, N., & Galaburda, A. (1987). Cerebral lateralitation. Cambridge: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Griffin, J. R., Birch, T. F., Bateman, G. F., & De Land, P. N. (1993). Dyslexia and visual perception: is there a relation? American Journal of Optometry and Physiological Optics, 70(5), 374–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hegarty, M., Shah, P., & Miyake, A. (2000). Constraints on using the dual-task methodology to specify the degree of central executive involvement in cognitive tasks. Memory & Cognition, 28, 376–385.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Karadi, K., Kovacs, B., Szepesi, T., Szabo, I., & Kallai, J. (2001). Egocentric mental rotation in Hungarian dyslexic children. Dyslexia, 7(1), 3–11.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Koenig, O., Kosslyn, S. M., & Wolff, P. (1991). Mental imagery and dyslexia: a deficit in processing multipart visual objects? Brain and Language, 41, 381–394.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Linn, M. C., & Petersen, A. C. (1985). Emergence and characterization of sex differences in spatial ability: a meta-analysis. Child Development, 56(6), 1479–98.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lipowska, M., Czaplewska, E., & Wysocka, A. (2011). Visuospatial deficits of dyslexic children. Medical Science Monitor, 17(4), CR216–CR221.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Maccoby, E. E., & Jacklin, C. N. (1974). The psychology of sex differences. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miyake, A., Friedman, N. P., Rettinger, D. A., Shah, P., & Hegarty, M. (2001). How are visuospatial working memory, executive functioning, and spatial abilities related? A latent-variable analysis. Journal of ExperimentalPsychology: General, 130, 621–640.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morris, R., Stuebing, K., Fletcher, J., Shaywitz, S., Lyon, G. R., Shankweiler, D., et al. (1998). Subtypes of reading disability: coherent variability around a phonological core. Journal of Educational Psychology, 90, 3, 347–373.

  • Nourbakhsh, S., Mansor, M., Baba, M., & Madon, Z. (2013). The effects of multisensory method and cognitive skills training on perceptual performance and reading ability among dyslexic students in Tehran-Iran. International Journal of Psychological Studies, 5(2), 92–99.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Osterrieth, P. A. (1944). Le test de copie d’une figure complexe: contribution a l’étude de la perception et de la memoire [copying a complex figure: contributions to the study of perception and memory]. Archives de Psychologie, 30, 203–353.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peters, M., Chisholm, P., & Laeng, B. (1994). Spatial ability, student gender, andacademic performance. Journal of Engineering Education, 83(1), 1–5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raven, M. S. (1956). Uputstvo za korišćenje Progresivnih matrica u boji (Instructions for the use of colored progressive matrices). Beograd: Centar za primenjenu psihologiju.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rey, A. (1941). L’examen psychologique dans les cas d’encéphalopathie traumatique (The psychological examination of cases of traumatic encephalopathy). Archives de Psycholige, 37, 126–139.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rusiak, P., Lachmann, T., Jaskowski, P., & van Leeuwen, C. (2007). Mental rotation of letters and shapes in developmental dyslexia. Perception, 36, 617–631.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Russeler, J., Scholz, J., Jordan, K., & Quaiser-Pohl, C. (2005). Mental rotation of letters, pictures, and three-dimensional objects in German dyslexic children. Child Neuropsychology: a Journal on Normal and Abnormal Development in Childhood and Adolescence, 11(6), 497–512.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shepard, R. N., & Metzler, J. (1971). Mental rotation of three-dimensional objects. Science, 171, 701–703.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shiina, K., Saito, T., & Suzuki, K. (1997). Analysis of problem solving process of a mental rotations test - performance in shepard-metzler tasks. Journal for Geometry and Graphics, 1(2), 185–193.

    Google Scholar 

  • Showman, M. M., & Ahissar, M. (2006). Isolating the impact of visual perception on dyslexics’ reading ability. Vision Research, 46, 3514–3525.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Siegel, L. S., & Ryan, E. B. (1989). Subtypes of developmental dyslexia: the influence of definitional variables. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 2, 257–287.

  • Sigmundsson, H. (2005). Do visual processing deficits cause problem on response time task for dyslexics? Brain and Cognition, 58(2), 213–216.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Spreen, O., & Strauss, E. A. (1998). Compendium of neuropsychological tests. Administration, norms and commentary (2nd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stern, R. A., Singer, E. A., Duke, L. M., Singer, N. G., Morey, C. E., Daughtrey, E. W., & Kaplan, E. (1994). The Boston qualitative scoring system for the Rey-osterrieth complex figure: description and interrater reliability. The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 8, 309–322.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Swanson, H. L. (1984). Semantic and visual memory codes in learning disabled readers. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 37, 124–140.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vandenberg, S. G., & Kuse, A. R. (1978). Mental rotations, a group test of three-dimensional spatial visualization. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 47, 599–601.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • von Karolyi, C. (2001). Visual-spatial strength in dyslexia: rapid discrimination of impossible figures. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 34(4), 380–391.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • von Karolyi, C., & Winner, E. (2005). Investigations of visual-spatial abilities in dyslexia. In F. Columbus (Ed.), Focus on dyslexia research (pp. 1–25). Hauppauge,: Nova Science.

    Google Scholar 

  • von Karolyi, C., Winner, E., Gray, W., & Sherman, G. F. (2003). Dyslexia linked to talent: global visual-spatial ability. Brain and Language, 85(3), 427–431.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, L. C., & Yang, H. M. (2011). The comparison of the visuo-spatial abilities of dyslexic and normal students in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 32(3), 1052–7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • West, T. (1997). In the mind’s eye: visual thinkers, gifted people with dyslexia and other learning difficulties, computer images, and the ironies of creativity. Amherst: Prometheus.

    Google Scholar 

  • West, T. G. (2005). The gifts of dyslexia: talents among dyslexics and their families. Hong Kong Journal of Paediatrics, 10, 153–158.

    Google Scholar 

  • Winner, E., Casey, M. B., DaSilva, D., & Hayes, R. (1991). Spatial abilities and reading deficits in visual art students. Empirical Studies of the Arts, 9(1), 51–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Winner, E., von Karolyi, C., & Malinsky, D. (2000). Dyslexia and visual-spatial talents: no clear link. International Dyslexia Association Newsletter, 27–30.

  • Winner, E., von Karolyi, C., Malinsky, D., French, L., Seliger, C., Ross, E., & Weber, C. (2001). Dyslexia and visual-spatial talents: compensation vs deficit model. Brain and Language, 76(2), 81–110.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wolf, U., & Lundberg, I. (2002). The prevalence of dyslexia among art students. Dyslexia, 8, 34–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Speech-Language Pathology, University of Tuzla, Bosnia, Herzegovina

    Mirela Duranovic

  2. Elementary school, Mustafa Pecanin, Rozaje, Montenegro

    Mediha Dedeic

  3. Department of Psychology, University of East Sarajevo, Bosnia, Herzegovina

    Miroslav Gavrić

Authors
  1. Mirela Duranovic
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Mediha Dedeic
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Miroslav Gavrić
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mirela Duranovic.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Duranovic, M., Dedeic, M. & Gavrić, M. Dyslexia and Visual-Spatial Talents. Curr Psychol 34, 207–222 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-014-9252-3

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-014-9252-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation