Spatial ability correlates moderately with mathematics achievement (r = .25), less strongly than verbal ability¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · review r3 · q3 · i2 medium · n=30 meta-analyses, 66 correlations from 13,853 effect sizes (~4.66 million participants)
Currency · newest study 2025 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Spatial ability correlates r = .25 with mathematics achievement (Xie et al. 2020, k = 263, n = 14,766), with subtypes from .21 to .35. These are correlations compiled across meta-analyses: they describe how strongly the characteristic goes with mathematics achievement, not what causes it.

Subclaims¶

q3 i2 Spatial ability correlates r = .25 with mathematics achievement (Xie et al. 2020, k = 263, n = 14,766), with subtypes from .21 to .35. → Breit et al. 2025

Evidence¶

Breit et al. 2025¶

Breit, M., Schneider, M., & Preckel, F. (2025). Mathematics achievement and learner characteristics: A systematic review of meta-analyses. Learning and Individual Differences, 118, 102621. doi:10.1016/j.lindif.2024.102621

q3 · systematic review of meta-analyses · i2 · medium effect, r = .25 (k = 263) · n=30 meta-analyses, 66 correlations from 13,853 effect sizes (~4.66 million participants) · review · r3

The review compiles zero-order correlations from published meta-analyses (each with at least ten effect sizes, the largest one kept where several covered a variable), found by a systematic PsycINFO search in July 2024. It pools nothing further and controls for nothing: many of these characteristics correlate with one another, so a correlation here says how strongly the characteristic goes with mathematics achievement, not that it causes it. Overall spatial ability r = .25; intrinsic-dynamic .27 (k = 89), visual-spatial memory .26 (k = 114), intrinsic-static .23, extrinsic-static .21, and extrinsic-dynamic .35 on only 11 effect sizes with a wide interval (±.42). Age did not significantly moderate the correlation.

Discussion¶

The authors suggest spatial representation is one of several routes to solving mathematics problems and can be compensated by others, and that spatial ability may matter more at high levels of mathematics, where it marks talent. See Spatial training improves math performance for the intervention evidence.

Learner Variables¶

• Spatial Ability — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes

Related Claims¶

• Mathematics achievement correlates more strongly with learners' knowledge, skills and cognitive abilities than with their personality traits, goals or emotions
• Some aspects of spatial skills are more predictive of mathematical development than others, so the construct must be differentiated — related
• Spatial ability correlates with educational performance across many STEM disciplines and sub-disciplines — a broader claim this one bears on
• Longitudinal evidence shows spatial ability predicts STEM educational and occupational outcomes beyond mathematical and verbal ability — related
• Verbal achievement, reading and language abilities correlate strongly with mathematics achievement (r = .42 to .67) — related
• Mathematics self-concept correlates strongly with mathematics achievement (r = .43), while verbal self-concept barely does (r = .12) — related