Formal thinking in mathematics and its relationship to spatial ability among middle school female students

The current research sought to explore the relationship between formal reasoning and spatial ability in mathematics among middle school female students, given the importance of these two dimensions in developing mathematical understanding, mental abstraction, and enhancing visual imagination skills. The researcher adopted a descriptive correlational approach, which was applied to a sample of (100) middle school female students. The researcher used two tests to measure both formal reasoning and spatial ability. Construct validity was verified through a pilot sample to ensure the validity of the two tests for measuring the study variables. The study results revealed the following, Middle school female students possessed a good level of formal reasoning. Middle school female students possessed a certain degree of spatial ability. There was a statistically significant correlation between the two study variables. This indicates that both formal reasoning and spatial ability contribute to enhancing each other in mathematics education at this level.