Abstract
Many studies deal with solution strategies in mental-rotation tests. The approaches range from global analysis, attention to object parts, holistic and piecemeal strategy to a combined strategy. Other studies do not speak of strategies, but of holistic or piecemeal processes or even of holistic or piecemeal rotation. The methodological approach used here is to identify mental-rotation strategies via gaze patterns derived from eye-tracking data when solving chronometric mental-rotation tasks with gender-stereotyped objects. The mental-rotation test consists of 3 male-stereotyped objects (locomotive, hammer, wrench) and 3 femalestereotyped objects (pram, hand mirror, brush) rotated at eight different angles. The sample consisted of 16 women and 10 men (age: M=21.58; SD=4.21). The results of a qualitative analysis with two individual objects (wrench and brush) showed four different gaze patterns. These gaze patterns appeared with different frequency in the two objects and correlated differently with performance and response time. The results indicate either an objectoriented or an egocentric mental-rotation strategy behind the gaze patterns. In general, a new methodological approach has been developed to identify mental-rotation strategies bottom-up which can also be used for other stimulus types.
Highlights
Mental-rotation is the ability to rotate the mental representation of objects in mind and is a component of spatial object cognition (Bülthoff & Bülthoff, 2014)
The results showed that individuals using analytic strategies on the Mental Rotations Test (MRT) tended to use analytic strategies on the Cube Comparison Test (CCT) (Janssen & Geiser, 2010)
We followed a different, rather exploratory approach using an eye tracker to record the scan paths of subjects when solving a mental rotation task with gender-stereotyped objects
Summary
Mental-rotation is the ability to rotate the mental representation of objects in mind and is a component of spatial object cognition (Bülthoff & Bülthoff, 2014). In a study by Janssen and Geiser (2010) e.g., the relationship between solution strategies on the Mental Rotations Test (MRT; Peters et al, 1995; Vandenberg & Kuse, 1978) and the CCT (CCT; Amthauer, 1953; Amthauer et al, 2001) was examined These two tests are commonly used to identify different patterns of strategies. It is not exactly known which solution strategies for mental-rotation tasks exist at all This leads to the general question of whether it is possible to grasp strategies with a top-down method since, so far, only holistic (object-based and egocentric) and analytic strategies are referred to. We followed a different, rather exploratory approach using an eye tracker to record the scan paths of subjects when solving a mental rotation task with gender-stereotyped objects. We want to break away from the determined strategies without negating them and take a completely independent look at gaze patterns and possible strategies
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