Influence of the stimulus material on gender differences in a mental-rotation test

A computational account of conflict processing during mental imagery

Previous studies examining conflict processing within the context of a color-word Stroop task have focused on both stimulus and response conflicts. However, it has been unclear whether conflict can emerge independently of stimulus conflict. In this study, a novel arrow-gaze mental-rotation Stroop task was introduced to explore the interplay between conflict processing and mental rotation. A modelling approach was utilized to provide a process-level account of the findings. The results of our Stroop task indicate that conflict can emerge from mental rotation in the absence of stimulus conflict. The strength of this imagery conflict effect decreases and even reverses as mental rotation angles increase. Additionally, it was observed that participants responded more quickly and with greater accuracy to small rather than large face orientations. A comparison of three conflict diffusion models-the diffusion model for conflict tasks (DMC), the dual-stage two-phase model (DSTP), and the shrinking spotlight model (SSP)-yielded consistent support for the DSTP over the DMC and SSP in the majority of instances. The DSTP account of the experimental results revealed an increased nondecision time with increasing mental rotation, a reduction in interference from incompatible stimuli, and an improved drift rate in response selection phase, which suggests enhanced cognitive control. The findings from the model-based analysis provide evidence for a novel interaction between cognitive control and mental rotation.

The influence of the design of mental rotation trials on performance and possible differences between sexes: A theoretical review and experimental investigation

Sex differences in mental rotation performance are one of the largest in cognitive psychology. Men outperform women by up to 1 SD in psychometric mental rotation tests, but it is often neglected that there are no or only small sex differences for chronometric tests. As both tests are supposed to measure the same ability, we suspect some features of the tests themselves to affect sex differences in performance. Following a theoretical review of the test features, we evaluate the effects of the number of possible answer alternatives, whether they are presented as pairwise mirrored, and their interaction on sex differences in mental rotation performance. In an online experiment, 838 German-speaking participants, 421 women, 417 men, Mage =  42.58 (SD = 12.54) years, solved four blocks of mental rotation trials with two or eight alternatives, which were either pairwise mirrored or not. The results show that that the overall performance was lower for more alternatives and for mixed alternatives but not for their interaction. We could not determine explanations for sex differences as we did not observe meaningful sex differences at all. Possible reasons include the differences between men and women in age and education. This study suggests that the differences between tests affect performance. Sex differences, however, need more investigation, including possible effects and interactions of the test design, education, and age.

Gender stereotypes in preschoolers' mental rotation

The investigation of gender stereotypes constitutes a relevant approach to understanding the development of spatial ability and sex differences in the domain. This was the first study concerned with the presence of implicit and explicit gender stereotypes about spatial ability, and their potential relation to spatial task performance, in preschool-aged children. Our full sample consisted of 138 4- to 6-year-old kindergarten children. The experimental procedure consisted of three parts. Children completed an implicit association task, a short questionnaire on explicit stereotypes, and a chronometric mental rotation task. Preschool-aged children held explicit gender stereotypes about spatial ability linking it to boys rather than girls. Boys exhibited stronger stereotypes in this regard than girls. We also found evidence for the presence of implicit stereotypes. However, implicit stereotypes were not found in sub-group analyses. No clear relationship between stereotypes and mental rotation performance emerged, but our results suggest that implicit stereotyping affected mental rotation accuracy differently in girls compared with boys. Our main conclusion was that children already hold stereotypic beliefs about spatial ability at preschool age. There did not seem to be a relationship of stereotyping with spatial ability at this age.

Self-concept explains gender differences in mental rotation performance after stereotype activation

Introduction

Mental rotation is an ability that usually displays robust and large gender differences in favor of boys and men. When participants are told that males outperform females, it can result in worse performance for females (stereotype threat effect) and better performance for males (stereotype lift effect). Because various studies show different results for the effect of stereotype activation, the present study aimed to investigate whether adolescents’ self-concept would moderate stereotype activation effects.

Methods

127 adolescents (61 male, 66 female) between 10 and 18  years (M = 13.54, SD = 1.99) solved the mental rotation test and filled out a questionnaire about their perceived performance, stereotype beliefs, and self-concept.

Results

Results showed that self-concept and stereotype activation affected male and female adolescents’ actual and perceived performance differently. For males, a better self-concept was associated with better performance in adolescents with stereotype activation and with lower performance in those without the activation. This interaction was only marginally significant. For females, an increasing self-concept was associated with worse performance in adolescents with stereotype activation and with better performance in those without activation. Furthermore, a better self-concept was associated with higher perceived performance in male adolescents with stereotype activation and with lower perceived performance without the activation.

Discussion

Reasons for these results could be the (in)congruence between males’ own perception of their abilities (self-concept) and the instruction of the activation.

Imaging the Spin: Disentangling the Core Processes Underlying Mental Rotation by Network Mapping of Data From Meta-analysis

Research on the mental rotation task has sparked debate regarding the specific processes that underly the capability of humans to mentally rotate objects. The spread of reported brain activations suggests that mental rotation is subserved by a neural network circle. However, no common network has yet been found that uncovers the crucial processes underlying this ability. We aimed to identify the common network crucial for mental rotation by coordinate-based network mapping of previous neuroimaging findings in mental rotation. A meta-analysis revealed 710 peak activation coordinates from 42 fMRI studies in mental rotation, which include a total 844 participants. The coordinates were mapped to a normative functional connectome (n = 1000) to identify a network of connected regions. To account for experimental factors, we examined this network against two control tasks, action imitation and symbolic number processing. A common and crucial network for mental rotation, centring on dorsal premotor, superior parietal and inferior temporal lobes was revealed. This network, separated from other experimental aspects, suggests that the crucial processes underlying mental rotation are motor rotation, visuospatial processing, and higher order visual object recognition.

Erfassung mentaler Rotationsleistungen im Grundschulalter

Zusammenfassung. Die mentalen Rotationsleistungen als eine Komponente visuell-räumlicher Fähigkeiten stehen in enger Verbindung zur mathematischen Entwicklung sowie zum schulischen und beruflichen Erfolg in den MINT-Fächern. Daneben werden geringe mentale Rotationsleistungen bei Kindern mit einer Lese-Rechtschreibstörung diskutiert. Derzeit ist kein Messinstrument für den Schuleingangsbereich verfügbar, welches sowohl die Lösungsgenauigkeit als auch die Reaktionszeit misst und den allgemeinen Kriterien der Psychometrie (Objektivität, Validität und Reliabilität) entspricht. Anliegen der vorgelegten Untersuchung ist es, diese Lücke zu schließen. In zwei Studien wurde ein computerbasiertes Testverfahren für Schulkinder bis zur dritten Klassenstufe entwickelt, welches die Besonderheiten bei der Erfassung mentaler Rotationsleistungen junger Kinder berücksichtigt. Die vorgenommenen testtheoretischen Betrachtungen an 300 Grundschulkindern waren zufriedenstellend. Die Daten konnten wesentliche Befunde der Literatur bestätigen und wurden kritisch diskutiert. Mit dem cMR liegt nun ein ökonomisches chronometrisches Testverfahren zur Erfassung mentaler Rotationsleistungen vor, welches bereits bei Kindern ab der ersten Klasse einsetzbar ist.

Mental Rotation in Sports

Abstract: This study further validates the sport-specific Mental Rotation Test – Basketball (MRT-BB) in which participants solve 24 items regarding basketball plays. The task of each item consists of comparing four alternative stimuli with a criterion stimulus and identifying the two “correct” alternatives. A total of 203 participants (101 females) took part in this experiment in which they solved the original MRT and the MRT-BB. The results replicate the findings of Weigelt and Memmert (2021 ). The number of items attempted declined toward the end of each set, with participants solving more items in the second set and men outperforming women. While participants solved more items on the MRT-BB, performance in both tests was positively correlated. Our replication of the previous results supports the validity of the MRT-BB. The correlation supports the notion that the mental rotation of the sport-specific stimuli is based on more general mental rotation skills.

Protective effects of education on the cognitive decline in a mental rotation task using real models: a pilot study with middle and older aged adults

Mental rotation is the ability to rotate objects in one's mind. Large age-related decreases in accuracy and processing time are often found in studies using paper-and-pencil or computerized mental rotation tests. For older participants, these tests are often too difficult. In the present study, real models consisting of cube figures were used to assess the mental rotation performance of middle and older aged adults. It should be investigated whether these tests were comparable to paper-and-pencil or chronometric tests and if very old participants were able to solve them. Eighty-four participants (49 females) between 40 and 90 years took part and were divided into middle (40-68 years) and older aged (69-90 years) and groups with higher (with college degree) and lower education (without college degree). For accuracy, main effects of gender and age group as well as interactions of age group and education were found. Younger participants outperformed older ones only in the group with lower education. For processing time, a main effect of age group as well as an interaction of age group and education was found. The age-related cognitive decline in the higher educated group was moderate, while a large effect appeared for the group without college degree. Age and gender effects of our new test with real objects were comparable to paper-pencil and computerized tests. Furthermore, a protective effect of education on the cognitive decline in mental rotation performance is discussed.

Mental rotation with colored cube figures

Men usually outperform women in psychometric mental rotation tests with cube figures. This advantage could be pronounced due to the male stereotyped rotational objects. The present study aims to investigate whether gender differences in favor of men are absent when the stimuli are less male stereotyped. Therefore, 112 participants solved three psychometric mental rotation tests with cube figures colored in pink, blue, and grey. Men outperformed women independent of stimulus color. In the pink and the grey version of the test, participants with beliefs of spatial abilities as masculine performed better than those with feminine beliefs. The mental rotation test performance with pink figures was predicted by gender and gender stereotypes in spatial abilities. In the blue and grey version, gender and self-rated spatial abilities predicted the performance. It can be assumed that the stereotype activation by stimulus color was not sufficient to influence the performance.