The Influences Of Spatial Reference Frames And The Choice Of Characters On Mental Rotation

Visuospatial ability is the part and parcel of intelligent structure. Probing into spatial ability and character of visuospatial information processes is not only to play an important part in understanding human behaviors with spatial cognition, but to be of great value of application. This study focused on the influences of spatial reference frames and the choice of characters on mental rotation. Our experiments controlled the axis rotated and character, compared imagined objects rotation with imagined viewer rotation, and compared first-person mental rotation and third-person mental rotation, aiming at finding the advantage of imagined self-rotation and third-person advantage of mental rotation.Our experimental research was composed of two parts including five experiments:1. Experiment 1 was conducted, comparing viewer and array performance in the transverse, coronal, and median sagittal planes, intending to reveal the advantage of imaged self-rotation.2. Experiment 2 was conducted, comparing viewer and array performance in the coronal plane while the direction of z-axis was identical with that of gravity.3. Experiment 3 was conducted, comparing viewer and array performance in the median sagittal plane while the direction of x-axis was identical with that of gravity.4. Experiment 4 was conducted, comparing viewer and array performance in the transverse plane while the direction of y-axis was different from that of gravity.5. Experiment 5 was conducted, comparing first-person and third-person performance in the transverse plane .The results of data analysis supported the following conclusions: l.The present experiments revealed that there is the advantage of imagined self-rotations that the viewer task is easier than the array task in the transverse plane, but which doesn't remain in the coronal and median sagittal plane. It isn't the necessary for the viewer advantage that the direction of axis rotated should be identical with that of gravity. The advantages of imagined self-rotations are specific to mental rotations performed in the transverse plane. The experience with performing actual rotations in the horizontal plane may cause people to become more efficient at imagining rotationsin this plane. Imagined self-rotation locates the items in the array according to viewer's spatial reference frame rotated while imagined array rotation locates viewer and the items in the array according to the array's reference frame rotated.2.It is easier for observers to spatially update displays during imagined self-rotation from third-person perspective versus from first-person perspective. For the mental rotation from first-person perspective, subjects has to restructure the positions of their own and the array; For the mental rotation from third-person perspective, subjects only restructure the positions of "their avatar" and the array which they are facing from first-person perspective.