title: Familial resemblance for the Identical Blocks Test of spatial ability: no evidence for X linkage.
abstract: The Identical Blocks Test of spatial ability was administered to subsamples of the two largest ethnic groups tested in the Hawaii Family Study of Cognition--Americans of European ancestry (171 families) and Americans of Japanese ancestry (98 families). Results of a hierarchical multiple regression analysis of family data and correlational analyses provided no evidence to support the hypothesis that spatial ability is influenced by a major, X-linked, recessive gene. Thus it appears that recent failures to replicate the sex-linkage pattern obtained by Stafford (1961) are not due to differences in the tests employed. We suggest that alternative explanations should be sought for the well-known sex difference in spatial ability.
mesh_terms: D005060:Europe / Q000208:ethnology; D005260:Female; D008040:Genetic Linkage; D005838:Genotype; D006254:Hawaii; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000208:ethnology; D008297:Male; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012730:Sex Chromosomes; D012737:Sex Factors; D013028:Space Perception; D014960:X Chromosome