Source: Laboratory of Jonathan Flombaum—Johns Hopkins University
Visual mental imagery refers to the ability to conjure images in one’s mind’s eye. This allows people to process visual material above and beyond the constraints of a current point-of-view; for example, a person could imagine, using their mind’s eye, how something might look in a different color, or what it would look like if it were made from a different material or rotated and seen from a different perspective. Mental imagery seems to support important human behaviors in many contexts. For example, people report visualizing routes and maps when planning a route or giving directions. They report visualizing movements, such as swinging a bat, to prepare for an actual action. They also report the mental rotation of objects in order to consider how an object might fit into a receptacle or clear a barrier.
This video demonstrates how to use the mental rotation procedure in order to investigate visual mental imagery.
1. Stimulus design.
Number Tag | Character | Angle | Correct Answer |
1 | 3 | 60 | RIGHT |
2 | g | 75 | RIGHT |
3 | g | 30 | RIGHT |
4 | g | 60 | LEFT |
5 | g | 165 | RIGHT |
6 | 4 | 105 | LEFT |
7 | 3 | 15 | LEFT |
8 | 3 | 165 | LEFT |
9 | 4 | 180 | LEFT |
10 | R | 15 | RIGHT |
11 | g | 180 | RIGHT |
12 | g | 45 | RIGHT |
13 | g | 105 | RIGHT |
14 | 3 | 45 | RIGHT |
15 | 4 | 15 | LEFT |
16 | R | 60 | LEFT |
17 | R | 45 | LEFT |
18 | R | 150 | LEFT |
19 | g | 0 | RIGHT |
20 | R | 30 | LEFT |
21 | 3 | 120 | LEFT |
22 | 4 | 90 | LEFT |
23 | R | 75 | LEFT |
24 | 4 | 135 | RIGHT |
25 | 3 | 180 | LEFT |
26 | 4 | 45 | LEFT |
27 | R | 90 | RIGHT |
28 | 4 | 0 | LEFT |
29 | 4 | 120 | LEFT |
30 | 3 | 135 | RIGHT |
31 | R | 135 | LEFT |
32 | 3 | 30 | LEFT |
33 | 4 | 75 | LEFT |
34 | 3 | 105 | LEFT |
35 | 3 | 150 | LEFT |
36 | R | 105 | RIGHT |
37 | 4 | 60 | RIGHT |
38 | 4 | 30 | LEFT |
39 | R | 120 | RIGHT |
40 | R | 180 | RIGHT |
41 | g | 135 | RIGHT |
42 | 3 | 0 | LEFT |
43 | 3 | 90 | LEFT |
44 | 4 | 150 | RIGHT |
45 | 4 | 165 | LEFT |
46 | 3 | 75 | RIGHT |
47 | R | 165 | LEFT |
48 | g | 90 | RIGHT |
49 | g | 150 | RIGHT |
50 | g | 15 | LEFT |
51 | R | 0 | RIGHT |
52 | g | 120 | RIGHT |
Table 1. An example of a key that reports the nature of the trial on each page and the correct answer (left or right).
Figure 3. A sample test page for one trial of the mental rotation experiment. The participant must report whether the character on the left or the right (below the line) is the rotated ‘R’ (as opposed to its mirror image rotation).
Figure 4. A sample test page for one trial of the mental rotation experiment. The participant must report whether the character on the left or the right (below the line) is the rotated ‘4’ (as opposed to its mirror image rotation).
Figure 5. An instruction sheet. This sheet presents one of the characters, its mirror image, and a rotation of each in order to facilitate explanation of the procedure to the participant.
2. Procedure.
3. Analysis.
Trial # | Number Tag | Response Given | Response Time | Number Tag2 | Character | Angle | Correct Answer | Answer Correct? |
4 | 1 | RIGHT | 4876 | 1 | 3 | 60 | RIGHT | 1 |
38 | 2 | RIGHT | 6758 | 2 | g | 75 | RIGHT | 1 |
40 | 3 | RIGHT | 3579 | 3 | g | 30 | RIGHT | 1 |
26 | 4 | LEFT | 8752 | 4 | g | 60 | LEFT | 1 |
10 | 5 | RIGHT | 6494 | 5 | g | 165 | RIGHT | 1 |
49 | 6 | LEFT | 6587 | 6 | 4 | 105 | LEFT | 1 |
16 | 7 | LEFT | 3434 | 7 | 3 | 15 | LEFT | 1 |
45 | 8 | LEFT | 9172 | 8 | 3 | 165 | LEFT | 1 |
35 | 9 | LEFT | 1856 | 9 | 4 | 180 | LEFT | 1 |
17 | 10 | RIGHT | 6818 | 10 | R | 15 | RIGHT | 1 |
12 | 11 | RIGHT | 4797 | 11 | g | 180 | RIGHT | 1 |
5 | 12 | RIGHT | 5378 | 12 | g | 45 | RIGHT | 1 |
21 | 13 | RIGHT | 3301 | 13 | g | 105 | RIGHT | 1 |
25 | 14 | RIGHT | 1393 | 14 | 3 | 45 | RIGHT | 1 |
33 | 15 | LEFT | 3937 | 15 | 4 | 15 | LEFT | 1 |
42 | 16 | LEFT | 5827 | 16 | R | 60 | LEFT | 1 |
31 | 17 | LEFT | 6004 | 17 | R | 45 | LEFT | 1 |
9 | 18 | LEFT | 6174 | 18 | R | 150 | LEFT | 1 |
46 | 19 | RIGHT | 6619 | 19 | g | 0 | RIGHT | 1 |
3 | 20 | LEFT | 2276 | 20 | R | 30 | LEFT | 1 |
18 | 21 | LEFT | 4176 | 21 | 3 | 120 | LEFT | 1 |
28 | 22 | LEFT | 7819 | 22 | 4 | 90 | LEFT | 1 |
24 | 23 | LEFT | 7368 | 23 | R | 75 | LEFT | 1 |
6 | 24 | RIGHT | 4984 | 24 | 4 | 135 | RIGHT | 1 |
47 | 25 | LEFT | 4495 | 25 | 3 | 180 | LEFT | 1 |
7 | 26 | LEFT | 5476 | 26 | 4 | 45 | LEFT | 1 |
50 | 27 | RIGHT | 7919 | 27 | R | 90 | RIGHT | 1 |
27 | 28 | LEFT | 7182 | 28 | 4 | 0 | LEFT | 1 |
48 | 29 | LEFT | 5793 | 29 | 4 | 120 | LEFT | 1 |
13 | 30 | RIGHT | 8986 | 30 | 3 | 135 | RIGHT | 1 |
36 | 31 | LEFT | 9457 | 31 | R | 135 | LEFT | 1 |
11 | 32 | LEFT | 7903 | 32 | 3 | 30 | LEFT | 1 |
29 | 33 | LEFT | 9703 | 33 | 4 | 75 | LEFT | 1 |
51 | 34 | LEFT | 9565 | 34 | 3 | 105 | LEFT | 1 |
1 | 35 | LEFT | 9341 | 35 | 3 | 150 | LEFT | 1 |
8 | 36 | RIGHT | 2849 | 36 | R | 105 | RIGHT | 1 |
52 | 37 | RIGHT | 2355 | 37 | 4 | 60 | RIGHT | 1 |
2 | 38 | LEFT | 2094 | 38 | 4 | 30 | LEFT | 1 |
32 | 39 | RIGHT | 7338 | 39 | R | 120 | RIGHT | 1 |
43 | 40 | RIGHT | 5431 | 40 | R | 180 | RIGHT | 1 |
37 | 41 | RIGHT | 2734 | 41 | g | 135 | RIGHT | 1 |
19 | 42 | LEFT | 5978 | 42 | 3 | 0 | LEFT | 1 |
14 | 43 | LEFT | 3305 | 43 | 3 | 90 | LEFT | 1 |
22 | 44 | RIGHT | 5273 | 44 | 4 | 150 | RIGHT | 1 |
41 | 45 | LEFT | 4472 | 45 | 4 | 165 | LEFT | 1 |
23 | 46 | RIGHT | 2353 | 46 | 3 | 75 | RIGHT | 1 |
34 | 47 | LEFT | 8211 | 47 | R | 165 | LEFT | 1 |
20 | 48 | RIGHT | 2049 | 48 | g | 90 | RIGHT | 1 |
44 | 49 | RIGHT | 9719 | 49 | g | 150 | RIGHT | 1 |
39 | 50 | LEFT | 9562 | 50 | g | 15 | LEFT | 1 |
15 | 51 | RIGHT | 1282 | 51 | R | 0 | RIGHT | 1 |
30 | 52 | RIGHT | 3548 | 52 | g | 120 | RIGHT | 1 |
Table 2. An example of a completed response sheet.
A common way to graph the results is to plot the response time for each character as a function of the rotation of the character (and its mirror image; Figure 6).
Figure 6. Results from the mental rotation task. Response times are plotted for each of the characters as a function of the amount of rotation in a given trial. Generally, response times are longer the more a character is rotated from its canonical orientation, suggesting that brain mechanisms simulate physical transformations.
One of the most interesting common results associated with mental rotation tasks is that the amount of time it takes to produce a response is proportional to the degree of rotation distinguishing the target character and its rotated pair. In other words, the time it takes to rotate an object mentally seems proportional to the time it would take to actually rotate physical objects in order to place them at the same orientation. This suggests that mental rotation relies on mechanisms that really try to simulate physical space in the brain, even though no pieces of the brain rotate.
One of the main practical applications for mental rotation tasks is to identify people who are especially good at visual thinking about physical spaces. Think about the skills it takes to be a good architect, mechanical engineer, an expert carpenter, or welder. Some people are really good at using mental imagery to guide their actions, and some people are not very good at all, reporting that they don’t even really see pictures in their mind’s eye the way most people do. The mental rotation test is a good way to identify exceptionally good and exceptionally bad visualizers in order to help people find the best uses of their abilities.
Mental rotation has also been an important part of neuroscience research aimed at understanding the parts of the occipital and parietal lobes involved in human vision. One of the most surprising findings is that when people mentally rotate objects without looking at them, there is an enormous amount of brain activity in visual cortex and brain areas generally thought to be involved in seeing. In other words, the brain systems used to actually see visual stimuli are also used to imagine visual stimuli.
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