Individual differences in the mixture ratio of rotation and nonrotation trials during rotated mirror/normal letter discriminations

Mental rotation is thought to underlie the increase in response times (RTs) for deciding whether rotated letters are normal or mirrored versions. However, mental rotation predicts a linear increase in RTs, whereas the mirror/normal letter discrimination task typically produces a curved function. Rec...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Memory & cognition 2012-05, Vol.40 (4), p.594-613
Main Authors: Searle, Jordan A., Hamm, Jeff P.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Behavioral Science and Psychology
Biological and medical sciences
Cognition & reasoning
Cognition. Intelligence
Cognitive Psychology
Discrimination (Psychology) - physiology
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Humans
Individuality
Male
Mental imagery. Mental representation
Models, Theoretical
Motor ability
Pattern Recognition, Visual - physiology
Psychological Tests
Psychology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Rotation
Sensory perception
Young Adult
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Summary:Mental rotation is thought to underlie the increase in response times (RTs) for deciding whether rotated letters are normal or mirrored versions. However, mental rotation predicts a linear increase in RTs, whereas the mirror/normal letter discrimination task typically produces a curved function. Recently, Kung and Hamm suggested that this curved function results from a mixture of trials in which mental rotation is employed and trials in which it is not. The mixture ratio may vary between individuals, with some individuals relying more on mental rotation than others. There is no factor in the Kung and Hamm model that reflects such individual differences. In the present study, we suggest that a possible exponent parameter could be added to the Kung and Hamm model to capture individual differences in the mixture ratio. This exponent parameter appears to capture an individual characteristic since the value obtained correlates between the mirror/normal letter task and a left/right object facing task. The development of a quantity that represents the mixture ratio will aid further testing of processes involved in the visual imagery system.
ISSN:0090-502X
1532-5946
DOI:10.3758/s13421-011-0172-2