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Titrating decision processes in the mental rotation task

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-18, 13:21 authored by Provost, A, Heathcote, A
Shepard and Metzler's (1971) seminal mental-rotation task-which requires participants to decide if 1 object is a rotated version of another or its mirror image-has played a central role in the study of spatial cognition. We provide the first quantitative model of behavior in this task that is comprehensive in the sense of simultaneously providing an account of both error rates and the full distribution of response times. We used Brown and Heathcote's (2008) model of choice processing to separate out the contributions of mental rotation and decision stages. This model-based titration process was applied to data from a paradigm where converging evidence supported performance being based on rotation rather than other strategies. Stimuli were similar to Shepard and Metzler's block figures except a long major axis made rotation angle well defined for mirror stimuli, enabling comprehensive modeling of both mirror and normal responses. Results supported a mental rotation stage based on Larsen's (2014) model, where rotation takes a variable amount of time with a mean and variance that increase linearly with rotation angle. Differences in response threshold differences were largely responsible for mirror responses being slowed, and for errors increasing with rotation angle for some participants.

History

Publication title

Psychological Review

Volume

122

Issue

4

Pagination

735-754

ISSN

0033-295X

Department/School

Tasmanian School of Medicine

Publisher

American Psychological Association

Place of publication

United States

Rights statement

© 2015 American Psychological Association

Repository Status

  • Restricted

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