title: Approaching behavior reduces gender differences in the mental rotation performance.
abstract: In this study, we investigated if the enactment of an approaching or avoiding behavior influences the mental rotation performance. Thirty-five females and thirty males completed a chronometric mental rotation task either in an approaching or in an avoiding condition while manipulating their arm position. The results showed a significant influence of this embodied behavior dependent on gender and task difficulty. The approaching condition caused no gender difference in reaction times and a reduced gender difference in accuracy for the most difficult tasks, while the avoidance condition produced the well-known gender differences in mental rotation for both reaction time and accuracy. We demonstrate that an approaching behavior improves the visual-spatial performance of females and gives a hint that the role of motivation must be investigated in more detail in further research.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Sport Science, University of Regensburg, Universitystreet 31, 93053, Regensburg, Germany. petra.jansen@ur.de.
authors.forename: Petra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jansen
authors.affiliation: Institute of Sport Science, University of Regensburg, Universitystreet 31, 93053, Regensburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kaltner
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cognition and Sport Games Research, German University of Sport Science, Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Memmert
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001362:Avoidance Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008606:Mental Processes / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology*; D012737:Sex Factors