Date of Award

9-18-1998

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Thomas Petros

Abstract

The present study tested to see if there were relationships between the ability to estimate body size and other visual-spatial abilities. Fifty female undergraduates at the University of North Dakota who did not have eating disorders (as tested by the Eating Disorders Inventory (Garner, 1990)) were tested. They were asked to estimate the width of their shoulders, waist, hips, and thighs; the width of the shoulders, waist, hips, and thighs of a mannequin; the width of a file cabinet; and the width of a soup can. They did this with the Askevold method of estimation (1975) and the Ruff and Barrios separate lines and continuous line methods (1986). Each Ruff and Barrios estimate was taken twice, and an average was used. The independent variable was: (actual measure-estimate) /actual.Each subject took the Vandenberg Test of Mental Rotation (MRT) (Vandenberg & Kuse, 1978); the Space Relations subtest and the Perceptual Speed and Accuracy (PSA) subtest of the Differential Aptitudes Test (Bennett, Seashore, & Wesman, 1974); the Digit Symbol subtest of the WAIS-R (Wechsler, 1981); the Spatial Orientation subtest of the Guildford-Zimmerman Aptitude Survey, Part Five (Guildford & Zimmerman, 1981); tests of near and far contrast sensitivity (Vistech Consultants, 1988); the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (Spielberger, Gorsuch, & Lushene, 1970); the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI); (Beck & Steer, 1987); and the Vocabulary Subtest of the WAIS-R. All but the PSA and the BDI were used in the final regressions.Multiple regressions were run for each estimate from each measurement method. The overriding result was that, for most estimates, none of the measures predicted the estimate accuracy. Being older predicted poorer estimation ability for some measures as did having poorer far contrast sensitivity. Doing better on the spatial relations test, doing better on the MRT, doing poorer on Vocabulary, and having less anxiety each once predicted better size estimation ability. The most perplexing result, was that, for some estimations, doing better on the Spatial Orientation test predicted poorer estimation ability. The results do not suggest any stable relationship between visual-spatial abilities and size estimation abilities. Much further study is necessary in this field.

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