A 'bright' side for dyslexia? : an investigation of visuospatial abilities and creativity skills in dyslexic and non-dyslexic Maltese male students : a quasi-experimental study

Abstract

Anecdotal evidence suggests that dyslexia may be positively linked to higher visuospatial ability and enhanced creativity skills but empirical evidence is inconsistent. This research study tested the null hypothesis (H0) that there is no direct association between dyslexia, higher visuospatial abilities and enhanced creativity in dyslexic (n=24) and unimpaired (n=24) Maltese male students aged 12 years. Results for this study were only able to demonstrate a statistically significant (p<.001) spatial advantage in favour of the non-dyslexic group on only one task: recognition of Hidden Shapes. This task required participants to search for a specific shape embedded in one of four more complex shapes. Nondyslexics outperformed dyslexics on all subtests except for one spatial subtest, Jigsaws, but none of the other results reached statistical significance and therefore the null hypothesis (H0) was not rejected.