Vandenberg Mental Rotation Test Research Articles

Effects of oral contraceptives on spatial cognition depend on pharmacological properties and phase of the contraceptive cycle.

The central nervous system effects of oral contraceptives (OCs) are not well-documented. In a set of 3 studies, we investigated a specific cognitive function, mental rotation, in healthy women currently using OCs for contraceptive purposes (n = 201) and in medication-free controls not using OCs (n = 44). Mental rotation was measured using a well-standardized and extensively validated psychometric test, the Vandenberg Mental Rotations Test (MRT). In an initial study (Study 1), current OC users (n = 63) were tested during the active or inactive phases of the contraceptive cycle in a parallel-groups design. Studies 2 and 3 were based on an archival dataset (n = 201 current OC users) that consisted of data on the MRT collected in real-time over a 30-year period and compiled for purposes of the present work. The OCs were combined formulations containing ethinyl estradiol (10-35 ug/day) plus a synthetic progestin. All 4 families of synthetic progestins historically used in OCs were represented in the dataset. Cognitive performance was evaluated during either active OC use (‘active phase’) or during the washout week of the contraceptive cycle (‘inactive phase’) when OC steroids are not used. The results showed a significant phase-of-cycle (POC) effect. Accuracy on the MRT was mildly diminished during the active phase of OC use, while scores on verbal fluency and speeded motor tasks were modestly improved. The POC effect was most evident in women using OCs that contained first- or second-generation progestins (the estrane family of progestins or OCs containing levonorgestrel), but not in women using OCs containing recently developed progestins and lower doses of ethinyl estradiol. Using independently established ratings of the estrogenic, androgenic, and progestogenic intensities of the different OC formulations, each brand of OC was classified according to its distinct endocrine profile. Multiple regression revealed that the effects of OC use on the MRT could be predicted based on the estrogenic strength of the contraceptives used. Estrogenic potency, not androgenic or anti-androgenic effects of the OC pill, may underlie the effects of OC usage on spatial cognition.

Sex‐based Differences in Visual‐Spatial Reasoning Do Not Impact Exam Performance in Musculoskeletal Anatomy Among Physical Therapy Students

IntroductionPrevious research has investigated visual‐spatial reasoning in the acquisition of anatomical knowledge and has identified sex‐based differences in this reasoning among various student populations. However, to date, no studies have evaluated if sex‐based differences exist in visual‐spatial reasoning among doctor of physical therapy (DPT) students and if these differences impact examination performance in musculoskeletal (MSK) gross anatomy.AimThe purpose of this study was to (1) investigate sex‐based differences in visual‐spatial reasoning and (2) determine if these differences impacted exam performance among DPT students enrolled in a MSK anatomy course. We hypothesized, visual‐spatial reasoning would be greater in male DPT students versus female DPT students, and positively correlate with exam performance.MethodsFifty first‐year DPT students were voluntarily recruited during the first week of a 10‐week MSK anatomy course to complete the Vandenberg Mental Rotation Test (VMRT), rate their level of confidence in MSK anatomy (1=low, 5=high confidence), and provide demographic information (self‐identified gender, sex, age) in this IRB‐approved study. At the end of the course, scores on written (n=3) and practical (n=3) examinations were collected. A total examination score was determined, and a ratio was calculated for the total number of correct to the total number of attempted VMRT questions. Groups were dichotomized by sex and data were checked for normality with the Shapiro‐Wilk test. Comparisons between groups were analyzed with the Mann–Whitney U‐test. Sex‐based correlations were assessed with Spearman’s rho. Alpha<0.05.ResultsNo significant differences in age were found between male (n=16) and female (n=34) DPT students (M: 25.6±4.2 vs. F: 25.9±4.6, p=0.71). VMRT scores among males were significantly higher than females (M: 17.8±3.9 vs. F: 11.0±3.9, p<0.0001). The number of VMRT questions attempted was also significantly higher among males compared to females (M: 21.9±3.6 vs. F: 15.8±3.8, p<0.0001). No significant differences between the groups were found in the number of questions answered incorrectly on the VMRT (M: 4.13±2.7 vs. F: 4.84±3.75, p=0.69) or the ratio number of VMRT questions correct to the number attempted (M: 0.81±0.11 vs. F: 0.70±0.19, p=0.082). Scores for practical exam (M: 67.3±4.3 vs. F: 67.0±4.3), written exam (M: 68.9±3.6 vs. F: 68.9±3.4), and combined total score (M: 136.2±6.7 vs. F: 135.9±7.0) did not differ between groups (p>0.05). There was a significant correlation between age and total exam score in females (r=−0.42, p=0.013), but not in males (r=−0.29, p=0.27). No other significant correlations were detected.Discussion/ConclusionThese results demonstrate that visual‐spatial reasoning is higher among first‐year male DPT students compared to female DPT students, but do not impact exam performance in a MSK anatomy course. Understanding sex‐based differences in anatomical knowledge acquisition may help anatomy instructors improve learning outcomes. Future research is needed to determine if female PT students compensate with alternate learning strategies and whether these strategies are sex‐specific.

Stereotype threat and working memory among surgical residents

BackgroundStereotype threat is a situational threat in which a member of a stereotyped group fears conforming to a negative stereotype. In this study, we examined the impact of stereotype threat on surgical performance and working memory among surgical residents. MethodsResidents at one institution were randomized to either the threat condition or the no-threat condition. We administered the Vandenberg Mental Rotation Test and the reading span task to assess residents’ mental rotation and working memory, respectively. Results102 residents participated in this study (response rate 61%). In multivariable analysis, we found significant gender differences. Men outperformed women in mental rotation, and women outperformed men in working memory. There was no effect of condition on performance on the mental rotation or working memory test. ConclusionsNo effect of condition on either test suggests that high-achieving women may be less susceptible to stereotype threat. This could be due to self-selection or adapted resilience, or women in this context may be more qualified to reach the same level of achievement as their male colleagues.

Effects of Tropical Climate on Mental Rotation: The Role of Imagery Ability

Abstract This study examined how a tropical climate (i.e., hot and wet climatic environment) could affect mental rotation according to imagery ability. The participants performed 2 test sessions in a tropical climate (TC), then in air conditioning (AC), in a randomized order. During each session, the participants completed the Movement Imagery Questionnaire, revised version (MIQ-R) and the Vandenberg Mental Rotation Test (VMRT). A first analysis including all the participants revealed that men had better VMRT scores than women in AC, which confirms the gender effect generally observed. However, no statistical gender difference was observed in TC, in which men performed worse. A second analysis including MIQ-R scores as participant selection found a significant interaction between imagery ability and climate condition and revealed that poor imagers had worse VMRT scores in TC than in AC, whereas no significant difference was observed for good imagers. Moreover, MIQ-R scores were lower in TC than in AC for the visual and kinesthetic imagery. More precisely, good imagers had significantly lower visual imagery MIQ-R scores in TC than in AC, and kinesthetic imagery MIQ-R scores of poor imagers tended to deteriorate in TC. The results of this study are consistent with the idea that TC can negatively affect mental rotation, motor imagery, and imagery ability, and the influence of TC on them is discussed. More research is needed to investigate the effects of hygrometry on imagery.

The Influence of Native Acquisition of Chinese on Mental Rotation Strategy Preference: An EEG Investigation

Eighty-five native Chinese speakers performed the Vandenberg and Kuse (Perceptual and Motor Skills, 47, 599–604, 1978) Mental Rotation Test (MRT) while the electroencephalogram (EEG) was used to concurrently monitor corresponding patterns of brain activation. The results showed that irrespective of their sex or college major (i.e., physical or social science), native Chinese speakers exhibited bilateral beta activation over the frontal and temporal regions as well activation of the parietal lobes, particularly on the left-side, suggesting a preference for a combined verbal/analytic and spatial/holistic mental rotation (MR) strategy. This pattern stands in contrast to native English speakers, who in earlier studies have been shown to selectively activate one or the other hemisphere and to engage either a verbal/analytic (left hemisphere) or spatial/holistic (right hemisphere) MR strategy depending upon their sex and/or college major (see Li and O’Boyle, The Psychological Record, 58, 287–300, 2008, The Psychological Record, 61, 2-20, 2011, The Psychological Record, 63, 27–42, 2013). The potential positive impact of natively acquiring a highly logographic language like Chinese on spatial processing in general and mental rotation in particular is discussed.

Sex Differences in Relationships between Verbal Fluency and Personality

The Thurstone Verbal Fluency Test, Vandenberg Mental Rotation Test, and NEO-FFI personality test were administered to 182 university participants (126 female, 56 male). The men scored higher than the women on the spatial test, and the women scored higher than the men for the verbal fluency test, as reported by others. Women reported more extraversion and agreeableness than men. Extraversion was correlated with verbal fluency for both sexes. For the men, verbal fluency was also positively associated with agreeableness, and for the women, verbal fluency was associated with openness and conscientiousness. No relationships between personality and spatial ability were found. Thus, the relationships between cognitive variables and personality factors differed between the sexes. These findings are discussed in terms of the common frontal neural substrate of verbal fluency and these aspects of personality, as well as the inherently social nature of language as a communication tool.

Dietary Effects on Cognition and Pilots' Flight Performance

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of diet on cognition and flight performance of 45 pilots. Based on a theory of self-care, this clinical study used a repeated-measure, counterbalanced crossover design. Pilots were randomly rotated through 4-day high-carbohydrate, high-protein, high-fat, and control diets. Cognitive flight performance was evaluated using a GAT-2 full-motion flight simulator. The Sternberg short-term memory test and Vandenberg's mental rotation test were used to validate cognitive flight test results. Pilots consuming a high-protein diet had significantly poorer (p < .05) overall flight performance scores than pilots consuming high-fat and high-carbohydrate diets.

Comparing the efficacy of varying learning modalities for computer‐based education in anatomy

We sought to identify whether online material is comparable to traditional lab-based study with anatomical specimens. Fifty-three university students with no experience in anatomy were tested. Subjects first completed the Vandenberg Mental Rotations Test (MRT), and then studied the anatomy of the pelvis from one of three stations: a plastic model (n=18), photographs of the same model (n=18) or a 3D interactive computer-generated (n=17). Subjects were given 10 minutes to study and a limitless amount of time to complete a quiz consisting of 15 nominal questions and ten functional questions. All subjects were tested using a wet specimen of the pelvis. There was a significant correlation between MRT scores and performance on nominal questions (r = 0.6, p<0.01), and between MRT score and performance on functional questions (r=0.3; p<0.05). Subjects learning using the plastic model performed significantly better on nominal questions (p<0.05). No differences were observed in performance on functional questions. We conclude that tangible models are invaluable tools for learning nominal anatomy, and 3D computer images fail to match their efficacy. The effectiveness of 2D pictures is yet to be elucidated. Grant Funding Source: Education Program in Anatomy

Women Athletes' Mental Rotation under Stereotypic Threat

This experiment examined whether nullifying a stereotypic threat about sex-related abilities in mental rotation in women athletes increased facility with rotations. Women athletes and nonathletes (N = 64) were told that they would be performing mental rotation presumed to create an implicit stereotypic threat. Then 32 participants learned that the mental rotation tasks required the same abilities as those mastered by athletes, presumed to nullify the stereotypic threat. Participants completed an 8-item Vandenberg and Kuse Mental Rotation Test and provided reports of ability, experience, and background. Contrary to the hypothesis, athletes receiving nullified instructions performed more poorly than peers who worked under the implicit stereotypic threat, but nonathletes' scores were not affected by the threat. These findings are consistent with the idea that group identification and concomitant worry about representing a group in a positive manner may contribute to responses to stereotypic threat, and that even with explicit nullification of threat, performance may not change.

Mom, Let Me Play More Computer Games: They Improve My Mental Rotation Skills

This study investigated how 3-D and 2-D computer game practice and delivery as well as individual differences affect performance on two tests of mental rotation (Vandenberg Mental Rotation Test and Card Rotation Test). Sixty-one US undergraduates from the Midwest completed 4 h of either massed or distributed practice. While computer game practice improved mental rotation scores in general, women’s gains were significantly greater than men’s, and the most significant gains were accomplished when practice was massed. High mathematical ability, gender, and type of practice significantly predicted improvement scores. The findings suggest that even very minimal computer game practice may improve performance on mental rotation tasks.

Predictors of Future Performance in Architectural Design Education

The link between academic performance in secondary education and the subsequent performance of students studying architecture at university level is commonly questioned by educators and admissions tutors. This paper investigates the potential for using measures of cognitive style and spatial ability as predictors of future potential in architectural design education. The research investigates the relationship between the academic performance of three cohorts of architectural students and their cognitive style (as measured by the Cognitive Style Analysis), spatial ability (measured by the redrawn Vandenberg mental rotation test), and performance in secondary education (measured by the make‐up of their portfolio of secondary qualifications). The results from the research provide little evidence to suggest that any of the measurements were good predictors of eventual performance. Neither were there any significant interactions between the test scores, performance, and gender. Nevertheless, there was evidence suggesting that students with certain cognitive styles were less likely to complete the course, particularly those with a verbaliser cognitive style. Furthermore, a significant proportion of female, wholist students also failed to complete the course.

Stereotype threat, identity salience, and spatial reasoning

Stereotype threat research provides insight into how the low standardized test scores of students from stigmatized social groups may derive in part from the negative performance expectations about these groups. Because these students belong to many social groups, one means of mitigating the threat is to remind them of their membership in groups for which there are positive performance expectations. We tested this hypothesis by priming different social identities among undergraduates prior to administering a standardized test of spatial reasoning, the Vandenberg Mental Rotation Test. We found that females who were primed to contemplate their identity as students at a selective private college performed better than those who were primed to contemplate their sex or a test-irrelevant identity. For males, priming their sex increased performance relative to the test-irrelevant or private college student primes. These results demonstrate the potential of reminding students of their achieved identities (e.g., private college student) in an effort to subdue evaluation apprehension created by negative stereotypes about their ascribed identities, such as being female in the case of spatial abilities.

Gender Differences in Relations of Mental Rotation, Verbal Fluency, and SAT Scores to Finger Length Ratios as Hormonal Indexes

One hundred thirty-four university students (93 women, 41 men) were administered the Vandenberg Mental Rotation Test and the Thurstone Word Fluency Test, and they were asked to report their Scholastic Achievement Test scores. Finger lengths were measured, because literature has reported gender differences in the ratio of the 2nd to 4th, 2nd to 3rd, and 2nd to 5th finger lengths, such that the ratio is larger in women than in men. The goal of this study was to evaluate the relations between finger-length ratios and cognitive skills, such as spatial skills and verbal fluency, which have shown gender differences and direct relations to hormonal effects. Gender differences were found in the expected directions, such that the men performed better than the women for mental rotation, the women performed better than the men for verbal fluency, and the finger-length ratios were in the directions reported in the literature. The finger-length ratios showed an interesting relation with the cognitive variables for the men and women. For the men, better performance on the measures, including mental rotation, verbal fluency, and verbal Scholastic Achievement Test score was associated with less of a male-typical finger-length ratio pattern, or higher ratios. For the women, better performance for mental rotation and verbal fluency was associated with less of a female-typical finger-length ratio pattern, or lower ratios. Thus, in this group of college students, better cognitive performance was associated with a less gender-typical finger-length ratio, for both men and women. These findings are discussed in the context of other similar reports and a possible curvilinear relation between hormones and cognition in normal populations.

Sex Differences in Line Judgment: Relation to Mathematics Preparation and Strategy Use

This study explored visuospatial ability using a new group-administered task, the Judgment of Line Angle and Position-15 test (JLAP-15). We investigated how this task relates to the Vandenberg Mental Rotation Test and whether the sex difference in performance could be explained by the number of prior mathematics courses or strategy used. Undergraduates (n=86 men and 112 women) completed the two tests and reported their strategies. Men had higher scores than women on both tests (d=1.04 for JLAP-15 and 1.10 for the Vandenberg Mental Rotation Test), with a significant intertask correlation of .41. Regression analyses indicated that strategy type, number of mathematics courses completed, and sex were significant predictors of performance on the JLAP-15 but only accounted for 21% of the variance.

Virtual navigation in humans: the impact of age, sex, and hormones on place learning

Certain cognitive processes, including spatial ability, decline with normal aging. Spatial ability is also a cognitive domain with robust sex differences typically favoring males. However, tests of spatial ability do not seem to measure a homogeneous class of processes. For many, mentally matching rotated three-dimensional images is the gold standard for measuring spatial cognition in humans, while the Morris water task (MWT) is a preferred method in the domain of nonhuman animal research. The MWT is sensitive to hippocampal damage, a structure critical for normal learning and memory and often implicated in age-related cognitive decline. A computerized (virtual) version of the MWT (VMWT) appears to require and engage human hippocampal circuitry, and has proven useful in studying sex differences and testing spatial learning theories. In Experiment 1, we tested participants (20–90 years of age) in the VMWT and compared their performance to that on the Vandenberg Mental Rotation Test. We report an age-related deficit in performance on both tasks. In Experiment 2, we tested young (age 20–39) and elderly (age >60) participants in the VMWT and correlated their performance to the circulating levels of testosterone and cortisol. Our findings indicate that the persistence of male spatial advantage may be related to circulating testosterone, but not cortisol levels, and independent of generalized age-related cognitive decline.

Testing the prenatal androgen hypothesis: measuring digit ratios, sexual orientation, and spatial abilities in adults

The present study examined whether the following variables putatively associated with prenatal androgens are inter-related in women: spatial abilities, sexual orientation, and 2nd to 4th finger (digit) length ratio (2D:4D). Participants were 99 healthy premenopausal women tested in the menstrual phase of the ovarian cycle between 0800 and 0930 hr. Women completed the Kinsey scales of sexual orientation, and were either strictly heterosexual (HS; N = 79) or not-strictly heterosexual (NHS; N = 20). Photocopies of the two hands were collected, and participants completed the revised Vandenberg Mental Rotations test, the Paper Folding test, and a short version of the Guilford-Zimmerman Spatial Orientation Test. Results showed that NHS women exhibited superior spatial ability relative to HS women. No significant difference was found between the HS and NHS women in the 2D:4D digit ratio. There was no association between the digit ratio and spatial performance. These results support an association between increased spatial abilities and heteroflexible sexual orientation, which may possibly be mediated by high prenatal androgens.

Self-perceived attractiveness and masculinization predict women's sociosexuality

Women vary with respect to monogamous/polyandrous inclinations, as indexed by the Sociosexual Orientation Inventory (SOI). Possible sources of SOI variation include variation in perceptions relating to the utility of different mating tactics and variation in one's degree of masculinity/femininity, among other things. In three studies with undergraduate participants SOI, an index of self-perceived attractiveness and two measures of masculinization, namely scores on the Vandenberg Mental Rotation test (V-MRT) and 2D:4D digit ratios, were measured. Self-perceived attractiveness predicted SOI in the first study, but not in the second study. Right 2D:4D did predict SOI in the second study. In the third study, both self-perceived attractiveness and right 2D:4D predicted SOI, and so did V-MRT scores. However, the strongest single predictor of SOI in Study 3 was the reported amount spent on alcohol during the average month.

Familial handedness and spatial ability: A study with Chinese students aged 14–24

This study tested Annett’s right-shift theory on spatial ability with two samples from China. The Vandenberg Mental Rotation Test (MRT), Edinburgh Handedness Inventory, and Family Handedness Questionnaire were administered to 266 high school students and 297 undergraduates. We found very few r++ or r−− among Chinese students. Most Chinese are either moderately right-handed or ambidextrous. Consistent with Casey’s finding, we found using different methods to classify handedness leads to different conclusions. However, we did not find the effect of familial handedness that Casey found. Visual strategy is related to success on the MRT but handedness is not.

Hemispheric specialisation, spatial activity experience, and sex differences on tests of mental rotation ability

A sex difference in mental rotation ability is well established. Among the explanations offered for this difference are that males are more frequently right hemisphere specialised for spatial processing and that they receive more spatial processing experience because of the sex stereotyping of activities involving spatial ability that exists in Western societies. Several studies have shown that males do report more spatial activity experiences on the Spatial Activity Questionnaire of Newcombe, Bandura, and Taylor (1983) and that such experience does correlate with performances on tests of mental rotation. However, two prior lateralised tachistoscopic studies failed to show right hemisphere superiority for spatial task performance or that it was positively associated with better performances on the Vandenberg Mental Rotation Test. The tachistoscopic tasks used in these studies can be criticised on methodological grounds. The present study employed a new tachistoscopic task that showed that males were significantly more right hemisphere specialised (left visual-field superior) for the tachistoscopic task than females. Magnitudes of right hemisphere specialisation on the tachistoscopic task were positively and significantly related to mental rotation ability. Spatial activity experiences were also more common in males. Covariance and partial correlation analyses indicated that the sex difference in spatial ability was primarily due to sex differences in right hemisphere specialisation for mental rotation, while sex differences in spatial activity experiences were only secondarily involved.

The Relation Between Experience and Spatial Performance in Men and Women

The purpose of the present study was to test the hypothesis that environmental factors affect the magnitude of gender differences in spatial performance only when the tasks used are susceptible to the influence of such factors. Two hundred and ninety White middle-class undergraduate students (165 females, 125 males) completed the Vandenberg and Kuse Mental Rotations Test (MRT), a paper and pencil version of the Water Level Task (WLT), and toys and sports preference questionnaires. Results revealed that males outperformed females on both spatial tests. In addition, a main effect of toys preference showed that participants with a spatial toys preference outperformed those with a nonspatial preference on both the MRT and the WLT. This main effect was qualified by an interaction between this factor and gender. The interaction was found only on the WLT and showed that gender differences were only significant in participants with a nonspatial preference. An interaction of sports preference and gender was also observed. This interaction revealed that, in contrast to what was obtained with toys, gender differences on both spatial tests were significant only in participants with a spatial sports preference. Implications of these findings with regard to the development of gender differences in spatial abilities are discussed.