Spatial Visualization (NNAT3 Level A)
Spatial Visualization asks the child to mentally move, turn, fold, or combine figures and choose the result. Unlike Pattern Completion, the answer is not a piece dropped into a hole; the whole figure is transformed or assembled. Level A items use simple shapes and one or two transformations at a time, so the child can track a corner, a side, or a marked part.
Core rules
- Rotation turns the whole figure; reflection flips it. A rotated L and a mirrored L are not the same.
- Track one landmark: a pointed corner, a dot, or the open side of a shape.
- For folding, the fold line acts as a mirror; the two halves match across it.
- For combining, count the parts and check that the outline uses all of them without gaps or overlap.
- A quarter turn clockwise moves “up” to “right”; a half turn moves “up” to “down.”
Worked example
A triangle points up. Rotate it a quarter turn clockwise. The tip that pointed up now points right, and the flat base that was at the bottom is now on the left. The correct choice is a triangle pointing right. A triangle pointing left is a quarter turn counterclockwise, and a triangle pointing down is a half turn.
Traps that cost marks
- Choosing a mirror image when the item asks for a rotation.
- Rotating only one part of a figure instead of the whole figure.
- Losing track of a dot, notch, or pointed corner.
- Assuming a folded shape is symmetrical when the fold line is off-center.