A Comparison of Spatial-Analytical Ability Levels of Gifted and Average Students (üstün Zekal Olan ve Olmayan rencilerin G rsel-Uzamsal Yeteneklerinin Düzeylerinin Kar la t r lmas )

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the difference, if any, between the spatial-analytical ability level of gifted students and that of average students. The sample included 52 gifted students as identified by the Raven’s Advance Progressive Matrices and 110 students with average general intelligence. The sample was divided into 6 groups as 2ndgrade gifted students (n= 23) and non-gifted students (n=21) who were attending gifted classrooms as inclusion students and non-gifted students who were attending regular classrooms (n=24); and 3rd grade gifted students (n=29) and non-gifted students (n=29) who were attending gifted classrooms as inclusion students, and non-gifted students who were attending regular classrooms (n=33). Gifted students and those average students who were attending gifted classrooms were the students of the same inclusion classrooms. Students who scored in the top 5% on the Raven’s SPM were identified as gifted. Percentileof the A-2 and 3-5 forms of the DISCOVER-spatial analytical assessment were used to determine participants’ spatial analytical ability level. Results: Data analysis showed significant differences between the mean scores of the groups by ability level both for the second grade [F (2-67) =5.20; p<0.05] and the third grade [ F(2-90)=9.31, p<0.01]. Findings showed that the mean of spatial analytical ability of the second grade gifted students (M=3.04; SD=0.88) were significantly higher than the mean of spatial analytical ability of the second grade average students (M=2.29; SD=0.55) who were attending regular classrooms. Similarly, the mean of spatial analytical ability of the third grade gifted students (M=2.86; SD=1.16) were significantly higher than the mean of spatial analytical ability of the third grade average students (M=1.70; SD=1.02) who were attending regular classrooms. However, no significant differences were found between gifted students and average students who were attending gifted classrooms as inclusion students. Also there was no significant difference between the scores of the non-gifted students who were attending the gifted classrooms as inclusion students and those who were attending regular classrooms. Conclusions: Gifted students have higher cognitive skills related to spatial analytical ability(Kyllonen & Kristal; cited in Lohman, 1996, p. 103), such as mental rotation, visualization, figure-ground relation, and perspective (Eliot & Smith, 1983, cited in Stumpf & Eliot, 1999, p.144-146). Findings of this study support prior research as well as the relation between general intel