Are developments in mental scanning and mental rotation related?

Wimmer, Marina C., Robinson, Elizabeth J. and Doherty, Martin ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4314-7892 (2017) Are developments in mental scanning and mental rotation related? PLoS One, 12 (2). ISSN 1932-6203

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Abstract

The development and relation of mental scanning and mental rotation were examined in 4-, 6-, 8-, 10-year old children and adults (N = 102). Based on previous findings from adults and ageing populations, the key question was whether they develop as a set of related abilities and become increasingly differentiated or are unrelated abilities per se. Findings revealed that both mental scanning and rotation abilities develop between 4- and 6 years of age. Specifically, 4-year-olds showed no difference in accuracy of mental scanning and no scanning trials whereas all older children and adults made more errors in scanning trials. Additionally, the minority of 4-year-olds showed a linear increase in response time with increasing rotation angle difference of two stimuli in contrast to all older participants. Despite similar developmental trajectories, mental scanning and rotation performances were unrelated. Thus, adding to research findings from adults, mental scanning and rotation appear to develop as a set of unrelated abilities from the outset. Different underlying abilities such as visual working memory and spatial coding versus representing past and future events are discussed.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	mental rotation,mental scanning,visual mental imagery,visuo-spatial development
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Psychology
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Developmental Science
Depositing User:	Pure Connector
Date Deposited:	31 Jan 2017 02:16
Last Modified:	22 Oct 2022 02:10
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/62223
DOI:	10.1371/journal.pone.0171762

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