Mental rotation is a cognitive operation during which a mental image is formed and rotated into a different orientation in space. Such process usually requires cognitive manipulation and spatial transformation of a two-dimensional or three-dimensional object. Interestingly, it may also involve the rotation of body parts or shapes with embodiment effects. Two mental rotation paradigms are usually distinguished: the perspective tasks require to determine how an object would appear from a different viewpoint, while in comparison tasks, changes are not related to the individual, but to the object itself. The aim is, therefore, to determine whether pairs of visual stimuli, presented from two different angles, are identical or mirror images. Response time and accuracy are the most frequent measures of performance. Show
Theoretical BackgroundWhile mental rotation paradigms can be traced back to the late 1960s, the most... This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution. Buying optionsChapter EUR 29.95 Price includes VAT (Singapore)
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Corresponding authorCorrespondence to Aymeric Guillot . Editor informationEditors and Affiliations
Rights and permissionsReprints and Permissions Copyright information© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC About this entryCite this entryGuillot, A., Hoyek, N., Collet, C. (2012). Mental Rotation and Functional Learning. In: Seel, N.M. (eds) Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1428-6_493 What is an everyday task that uses mental rotation?Mental rotation allows us to look at an object and be able to flip it, for example, reading a word thats been written backwards. Mental scanning allows us to be able to visualize something or someplace without actually being there, for example, the aisle in the grocery store that has cereal.
What are mental rotation tasks?Mental rotation tasks involve recognizing what an object may look like when viewed from other angles or when oriented differently in space. It is the ability to rotate mental representations of 2D or 3D objects and typically involves the following cognitive stages: Create a mental image of the object.
What is mental rotation performance?Mental rotation performance is the ability to rotate a three-dimensional object using the imagination. Three groups, each consisting of 40 students, and divided by the subjects, music, sports, and education, solved a psychometrical mental rotation task with three-dimensional block figures.
How can I improve my mental rotation?As shown in two meta-analyses (Baenninger and Newcombe, 1989, Uttal et al., 2013), mental rotation abilities can be improved by training sessions that focus on practicing with spatial tasks and materials: not only the training sessions are effective, but also the advantages maintain, and transfer to other spatial tasks ...
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