Abstract

The link between spatial thinking and the understanding of physical events has long been of interest in cognitive science. Previous research suggests that spatial cognition plays a pivotal role in comprehending mechanical systems, given that physical events unfold in space. However, it remains unclear whether all subtypes of spatial ability contribute equally to mechanical reasoning. To investigate this, we administered six tasks to participants: four spatial assessments organized within a 2 (intrinsic vs. extrinsic) x 2 (static vs. dynamic) factorial framework, and two mechanical reasoning measures (the DAT-5 Mechanical Reasoning test and a Gears-and-Belts task). While we initially hypothesized that intrinsic and dynamic spatial skills would be most predictive of mechanical reasoning, our findings challenged this prediction. Contrary to our expectations, we found that mechanical reasoning was best characterized by the use of more extrinsic (rather than intrinsic) and more dynamic (rather than static) spatial processing, at least at an overall level. Additionally, our results revealed that the predictive power of spatial skills is highly dependent on the task, as this association was stronger for a broad assessment of varied mechanical problems (DAT-5) than for a narrow task focused on a specific system (Gears-andBelts). This finding suggests that future investigations should employ a wider variety of physical problems to better understand the interconnections between specific spatial abilities and distinct forms of mechanical reasoning.