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Effects of Angle of Rotation on Response Rate and Accuracy in Mental Rotation Task
Gulser Ozel
Rutgers University
Course Number: Cognition Lab
Elisabeth Black
04/19/2024
, 2
Effects of Angle of Rotation on Response Rate and Accuracy in Mental Rotation Task
Mental rotation involves manipulating mental representations of objects, a skill essential
for daily activities like navigating spaces and planning room layouts without physical effort. This
skill is also very important in educational environments. For instance, a previous study showed a
significant link between computational thinking and mental rotation abilities in school-age
children, indicating that mental rotation proficiency improves coding ability regardless of age or
gender (Citta et al., 2019). This research highlights the importance of mental rotation in both
academic and practical situations and supports the embodied cognition approach, which claims
that cognitive processes are tightly linked to sensorimotor abilities.
Moreover, recent educational research has illuminated the benefits of mental rotation
training. A notable study (Rodán et al., 2016) demonstrated that adolescents participating in a
structured mental rotation training program showed remarkable improvements in their
visuospatial abilities compared to a control group. This improvement remained true for both
genders and was positively impacted by prior video game experience, indicating the potential
wide applicability of this kind of instruction. This data demonstrates how mental rotation training
may improve cognitive abilities that are essential for success in STEM areas, where spatial
thinking is frequently a critical component. This is why it is important to study the detailed
aspects of mental rotation.
Subsequent research in the topic has been guided by previous seminal work of Shepard
and Metzler (1971), which demonstrated that the mental rotation time of an item is precisely
related to its angle of rotation. Participants in their groundbreaking experiment compared pairs of
three-dimensional block layouts with different degrees of rotation. Similarly, Cooper and
Effects of Angle of Rotation on Response Rate and Accuracy in Mental Rotation Task
Gulser Ozel
Rutgers University
Course Number: Cognition Lab
Elisabeth Black
04/19/2024
, 2
Effects of Angle of Rotation on Response Rate and Accuracy in Mental Rotation Task
Mental rotation involves manipulating mental representations of objects, a skill essential
for daily activities like navigating spaces and planning room layouts without physical effort. This
skill is also very important in educational environments. For instance, a previous study showed a
significant link between computational thinking and mental rotation abilities in school-age
children, indicating that mental rotation proficiency improves coding ability regardless of age or
gender (Citta et al., 2019). This research highlights the importance of mental rotation in both
academic and practical situations and supports the embodied cognition approach, which claims
that cognitive processes are tightly linked to sensorimotor abilities.
Moreover, recent educational research has illuminated the benefits of mental rotation
training. A notable study (Rodán et al., 2016) demonstrated that adolescents participating in a
structured mental rotation training program showed remarkable improvements in their
visuospatial abilities compared to a control group. This improvement remained true for both
genders and was positively impacted by prior video game experience, indicating the potential
wide applicability of this kind of instruction. This data demonstrates how mental rotation training
may improve cognitive abilities that are essential for success in STEM areas, where spatial
thinking is frequently a critical component. This is why it is important to study the detailed
aspects of mental rotation.
Subsequent research in the topic has been guided by previous seminal work of Shepard
and Metzler (1971), which demonstrated that the mental rotation time of an item is precisely
related to its angle of rotation. Participants in their groundbreaking experiment compared pairs of
three-dimensional block layouts with different degrees of rotation. Similarly, Cooper and
