Spatial reasoning (CTY Spatial Test Battery-style)

Spatial reasoning practice tests

The Spatial Test Battery (STB) is the test of spatial reasoning that the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (CTY) gives students from Grade 5, beside its verbal and math tests, to find students for its science and engineering courses. It is taken on a computer in timed subtests: Surface Development (folding flat shapes into solids), Block Rotation (turning blocks in your head), Visual Memory (shapes learned at the start and recognized later) and, from Grade 7, Perspectives (seeing a group of objects from another side).

Our spatial reasoning practice gives Surface Development (30 questions in 12 minutes), Block Rotation (20 in 12), Visual Memory (15 or 22 shapes to learn in 8 minutes, then 15 or 20 questions in 8) and, from Grade 7, Perspectives (22 in 19), at the published lengths and times, each easy to hard. As on the real test, Surface Development gives six flat shapes with five questions each, and the solids are not only cubes: boxes, prisms, a cube with a corner cut off and a frustum. Our blocks are built from cubes, wedges and cylinders, as the real test's are. As on the real test, Visual Memory's questions come half an hour after the shapes are learned, so your child can sit the other subtests in between.

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A look at the test

Questions in the spatial reasoning style

Written by us in the style of the published spatial reasoning question types.

  • Surface Development: folding a flat shape

    The flat shape and the solid

    The next five questions are about this flat shape and the solid it folds into.

    Which numbered edge of the flat shape makes the edge marked A when it is folded up?

    1. A4
    2. B1
    3. C3
    4. D5
    5. E7
    Show the answer and why
    AnswerC3

    1. Find the shaded face on both pictures and turn the flat shape in your mind until the dot sits by the same corner as on the solid.

    2. Fold the faces next to the shaded face up, one at a time, and note which face of the solid each becomes.

    3. Edge A joins two faces of the solid. On the flat shape, it is where two outer edges meet when the shape is folded.

    4. Edges 3 and 10 come together there. Final answer: 3.

    Remember

    Find the shaded face and its dot on both pictures, and turn the flat shape in your head until the dot sits by the same corner.

  • Block Rotation: the same block, turned

    This block is made of 5 cubes joined face to face. Which picture shows the same block, turned?

    1. A
    2. B
    3. C
    4. D
    5. E
    Show the answer and why
    AnswerB

    1. Count the pieces

      5 cubes. A picture with a different count, or a cube somewhere else, can be ruled out.

    2. Find a landmark

      The longest straight row of cubes, and the cube that sticks out from its end.

    3. Turn the block in your mind so the landmark lies the same way as in a choice, and check which side the other pieces are on.

    4. A choice with the pieces on the opposite side is the mirror image: it cannot be turned to match.

    5. Final answer

      The picture where every piece is in the same place around the landmark.

    Remember

    Count the cubes, wedges and cylinders, then find a landmark: a wedge or cylinder and the way it lies, or the longest row of cubes.

  • Perspectives: seen from another side

    Picture 1 shows a group of balls from the front. Picture 2 shows the same balls from another side. From where were they seen in Picture 2?

    1. AFrom the left
    2. BFrom above
    3. CFrom behind
    4. DFrom below
    5. EFrom the right
    Show the answer and why
    AnswerEFrom the right

    1. Pick one ball that is easy to find in both pictures, such as a light ball among dark ones.

    2. In Picture 1, note what is to its left and right, and what is in front of it (drawn bigger) and behind it (drawn smaller).

    3. Walk round the group in your mind

      From the right, what was in front is now on the left; from behind, left and right swap; from above, what was at the back is at the top of the picture.

    4. Check every ball against Picture 2. Final answer: from the right.

    Remember

    Pick one ball that stands out, such as a light ball among dark ones.

The test

Subtests by grade

LevelGradesQuestionsTimeQuestion types in our tests
Level IGrades 5 and 630 + 20 + 1512 + 12 + 8 minutes, plus 8 to learnSurface Development, Block Rotation and Visual Memory (15 shapes).
Level IIGrades 7 and 830 + 20 + 20 + 2212 + 12 + 8 + 19 minutes, plus 8 to learnSurface Development, Block Rotation, Visual Memory (22 shapes) and Perspectives.

The subtests, their lengths and times, and the levels by grade are CTY's published figures. Our questions, and the mix of question types in each subtest, are ours.

By grade

Free practice for each grade

Pricing

Three free practice tests. Unlimited tests and answers are US$49.

A free account includes 3 practice tests. A plan opens unlimited tests and shows your child what they got right, the right answers and how to reach them, on every CogAT, NNAT, OLSAT, NGAT, SCAT, InView, matrices and spatial reasoning test. Practicing for more than one kind of test? The US bundle covers them all for US$99.

Gifted test packLaunch price

US$49

for 6 months

  • Which questions your child got right, after every practice test
  • The right answer to every question
  • A worked solution for every question, step by step
  • CogAT from Kindergarten to Grade 8, all three batteries
  • NNAT and OLSAT from Kindergarten to Grade 12, NGAT to Grade 9
  • SCAT-style Verbal and Quantitative for the CTY talent search, Grades 2 to 9
  • InView-style practice, all five subtests, Grades 2 to 12
  • Matrices-style picture reasoning from Kindergarten to Grade 8, and spatial reasoning for Grades 5 to 8

Every US testLaunch price

US$99

for 6 months

  • Everything in every US pack, in one payment
  • CogAT, NNAT, OLSAT and NGAT, for gifted and talented programs
  • SCAT-style practice for the CTY talent search, Grades 2 to 9
  • InView-style practice for gifted screening, Grades 2 to 12
  • Matrices-style and spatial reasoning practice
  • ISEE and SSAT, for private school entry
  • HSPT and TACHS, for Catholic high school entry
  • Hunter-style practice, for Hunter College High School
  • Math contest practice, Grades 1 to 8
  • MAP Growth practice, by grade and subject
  • i-Ready-style Math and Reading, Kindergarten to Grade 8
  • Early reading practice, Kindergarten to Grade 3
  • SHSAT practice for Grades 8 and 9, English and math
  • Iowa practice for Grades 3 to 8, all five Core tests
  • TerraNova, Stanford 10 and CTP-style practice for Grades 3 to 8
  • ACT-style English, Math, Reading and Science for Grades 10 to 12
  • SAT-style and PSAT-style practice, Grades 8 to 12, Reading and Writing and Math
  • State test practice: STAAR-style and CAASPP-style math and reading, Grades 3 to 8

One payment in US dollars for 6 months of access. No auto-renewal: when the 6 months end, access stops unless you buy again.

Questions

What parents ask

Are these real STB questions?
No. CTY's questions are secure. We draw our own in the published shape of each subtest, at the same length and time.
Which subtests does my child take?
Grades 5 and 6 take Level I: Surface Development, Block Rotation and Visual Memory. From Grade 7, Level II adds Perspectives. Choose your child's grade below.
How does Visual Memory work here?
Your child learns a set of shapes (15 at Level I, 22 at Level II) for up to 8 minutes. Then the shapes are hidden for good, and each question shows five shapes: which one was in the set? The wrong choices include shapes flipped over, shaded in a different place, or with one corner moved. As on the real test, the questions open half an hour after learning: your child sits the other subtests in a new tab meanwhile, then comes back. They can start sooner, which makes it easier than the real test.
Does a practice score predict CTY eligibility?
No. CTY sets eligibility from its own scaled scores, which only the real test can give. Our score is the number answered correctly.
Is it free?
A free account includes 3 practice tests. The gifted pack (US$49 for six months) opens unlimited tests, the right answers and a worked solution for each, and covers CogAT, NNAT, OLSAT, NGAT, SCAT, InView, matrices and spatial reasoning. The US bundle (US$99) covers every US test we offer.

The Spatial Test Battery (STB) is given by the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (CTY). Scholar Tests is not affiliated with or endorsed by Johns Hopkins University, CTY or any school. Our spatial reasoning questions are written and drawn by us in the published shape of its subtests; they are not real test questions, and a practice score is not an STB score and says nothing about CTY eligibility.