SKRYTÉ ASPEKTY V TESTOVÁNÍ PROSTOROVÉ PŘEDSTAVIVOSTI: IDENTIFIKACE UPLATŇOVANÝCH STYLŮ ŘEŠENÍ POLOŽEK.

Objectives: The goal of the presented study was to identify groups of respondents which differ in the probability of successful solving individual items comprising test of spatial abilities. Sample and setting: The size of the research sample was 1540 test-takers, who attended the admission procedure to Masaryk University. Data from the Spatial Abilities subtest were analyzed. Hypotheses: The total score of the Spatial Abilities test reflects not only the level of spatial abilities but also the level of verbal-analytic thinking. Statistical analysis: The Latent Class Analysis was used to identify the latent classes of respondents and also other common statistical procedures were applied. Results: Three latent classes of respondents were identified. These classes were interpreted considering the ability to solve the item using manipulations with mental images or analytical technique based on decomposing the item image into sequence of propositions. Study limitation: The interpretations are based on a large research sample collected in a real testing situation during university's admission procedure. In a follow-up research the authors plan to use the introspection method to analyze mental processes applied when solving items from a test of spatial abilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]