Abstract
It was the main goal of this study to investigate performance on the mental rotation test (MRT) in Brazilian and German adolescents. Mental rotation is the ability to mentally transform a three-dimensional stimulus in mind and relates to science education. 60 German and 60 Brazilian adolescents (76 males and 44 females, 11–17 years) completed the Mental Rotation Test, a physical activity and media use questionnaire and a Number Connection Test. The result showed no difference between Brazilian and German adolescents in the cognitive processing speed measurement. German adolescents are more active and show a less media use compared to the Brazilian adolescents. Furthermore, German adolescents demonstrate a better MRT performance than Brazilian ones, as well as boys show a better performance than girls do. A multiple regression analysis indicated that the MRT performance could be predicted by nationality, sex, and cognitive processing speed. Since cognitive processing speed did not differ between Brazilian and German adolescents, the worse MRT performance of the Brazilian adolescents could be explained by different educational systems. Further studies have to follow which investigate the reasons for the different nations in more detail.
Highlights
Mental rotation is defined as the ability of mental transform of how an object appears if it is rotated from its original position (Shepard and Metzler, 1971)
We explore the possible role of nationality, age, sex, cognitive processing speed, sports practice, and media usage in predicting the mental rotation test (MRT) performance
In the analysis of the standard performance measurement with the MRT, our results show that there was a significant effect of the factor “nationality,” F(1, 116) = 7.38, p = 0.008, partial η2 = 0.06
Summary
Mental rotation is defined as the ability of mental transform of how an object appears if it is rotated from its original position (Shepard and Metzler, 1971). This specific spatial task is well examined in different fields, such as sex differences (Jansen-Osmann and Heil, 2007), developmental psychology (Quinn and Liben, 2008), neuroscience (Jordan et al, 2001), and general psychology (Yuille and Steiger, 1982; Bethell-Fox and Shepard, 1988). It is unclear, if this motor expert effect is evident in people who are only more physical active than others
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