a comparison of spatial ability bteween women in the third trimester of pregnancy with women after delivery

a comparison of spatial ability bteween womenin the third trimester of pregnancy with women after delivery     vatanparast sh * [1] , alipour a [2] , zareh h [3] ,yadegari oa [4]    received: 19 apr, 2011 accepted: 6 jul, 2011   abstract  background & aims: this research was aimed to review the ability to compare spatial ability (mental rotation, visualization, water level task) between pregnant women in the third trimester and women after vaginal delivery. materials & methods: for this purpose, 200 women were selected using cluster sampling and were divided into two groups of pregnant women and women after vaginal delivery. in order to evaluate spatial ability of samples the following tests were used: mental rotation test of vandenberg, visualization test of ekstrom, and water level task of vasta . the data were analyzed using non-arametric test of chi-square test, and mann-whitney test. result: mental rotation of spatial ability and drawing water line level in pregnant women significantly increased. however, it significantly decreased in women after natural delivery (p <0.001). spatial visualization ability was not significant in both groups.  conclusion: the results showed mental rotation of spatial ability and drawing water line level increases in pregnant women but decreases in women after natural delivery. keywords: spatial ability, mental rotation, visualization, water level task   address: arefian hospital, urmia, iran   tel: (+98)9147632982   email : [email protected]   [1] master in psychology (corresponding author)  [2] associate professor of psychology, faculty of humanities, payam noor university of tehran, tehran, iran  [3] associate professor of psychology, faculty of humanities, payam noor university of tehran, tehran, iran  [4] phd in anesthesiology