Role of strategies and prior exposure in mental rotation.
The purpose of these two studies was to examine sex differences in strategy use and the effect of prior exposure on the performance on Vandenberg and Kuse's 1978 Mental Rotation Test. A total of 152 participants completed the spatial task and self-reported their strategy use. Consistent with previous studies, men outperformed women. Strategy usage did not account for these differences, although guessing did. Previous exposure to the Mental Rotation Test, American College Test scores and frequent computer or video game play predicted performance on the test. These results suggest that prior exposure to spatial tasks may provide cues to improve participants' performance.
Department of Psychology, Creighton University, Omaha, NE 68178, USA. cherneyi@creighton.edu
Isabelle D
ID
Cherney
Nicole L
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Neff
D000328:Adult; D003463:Cues; D004521:Educational Measurement; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008606:Mental Processes; D011581:Psychological Tests; D012399:Rotation; D012737:Sex Factors; D013028:Space Perception; D013997:Time Factors