Sex Differences in Mental Rotation Ability Are a Consequence of Procedure and Artificiality of Stimuli

The Morris water maze is a task adapted from the animal spatial cognition literature and has been studied in the context of sex differences in humans, particularly because of the standard design, which manipulates proximal (close) and distal (far) cues. However, there are mixed findings with respect to the interaction of cues and sex differences in virtual Morris water maze tasks, which may be attributed to variations in the scale of the space and previously unmeasured individual differences. We explore the question of scale and context by presenting participants with an outdoor virtual Morris water maze that is four times the size of the mazes previously tested. We also measured lifetime mobility and mental rotation skills. Results of this study suggest that for the small-scale environment, males and females performed similarly when asked to navigate with only proximal cues. However, males outperformed females when only distal cues were visible. In the large-scale environment, males outperformed females in both cue conditions. Additionally, greater mental rotation skills predicted better navigation performance with proximal cues only. Finally, we found that highly mobile females and males perform equally well when navigating with proximal cues.

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Sex Differences in Mental Rotation Performance Through Holding Weights By the Hands

Imagination Cognition and Personality ◽

10.1177/0276236620952334 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 027623662095233

Author(s):

Hiroyuki Muto ◽

Soyogu Matsushita ◽

Kazunori Morikawa

Keyword(s):

Sex Differences ◽

Embodied Cognition ◽

Mental Rotation ◽

Response Times ◽

Error Rates ◽

Female Students ◽

Mental Rotation Task ◽

Hands On ◽

Sensorimotor Processes

Mental rotation is known to be mediated by sensorimotor processes. To deepen our understanding of the role of somatosensory inputs in mental rotation, we investigated the effects of holding weight by the hands on mental rotation performance. In an experiment, 22 male and 22 female students performed a chronometric mental rotation task while holding either light or heavy bags in both hands. Results showed that females holding heavy bags were quicker and more accurate at mental rotation than females holding light bags, as evidenced by shallower slopes for response times (RTs) and error rates. In contrast, males showed no such heavy-bag-induced improvement. Unlike slopes, intercepts for RTs and error rates were equivalent regardless of sex and bag weight. Consistent with previous research on embodied cognition, the present findings demonstrated the facilitatory role of somatosensory cues by weight in mental rotation and suggested sex differences in embodied processes in mental rotation.

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Genetic and Environmental Sex Differences in Mental Rotation Ability: A Japanese Twin Study

Twin Research and Human Genetics ◽

10.1375/twin.14.5.437 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 14 (5) ◽

pp. 437-443 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Kunitake Suzuki ◽

Chizuru Shikishima ◽

Juko Ando

Keyword(s):

Sex Differences ◽

Mental Rotation ◽

Environmental Factor ◽

Genetic Factor ◽

Environmental Influence ◽

Environmental Influences ◽

Mental Rotation Test ◽

Small Influence ◽

Two Factors ◽

Explained Variance

Sex differences in mental rotation ability have been observed in many countries. A previous study of Finnish participants reported that genetic and environmental influences on mental rotation ability differ between sexes. In this study, we assessed genetic and environmental influences on variance in mental rotation ability in 649 Japanese twins using a mental rotation test. To explain the influence of sex on variance in mental rotation ability, we applied genetic analysis using the sex limitation model. The following two factors explained variance in mental rotation ability: (1) the additive genetic factor, which reflects the accumulated small influence of many genes, and (2) the unique environmental factor, which is a type of environmental factor that differs between co-twins. The shared environmental factor, a type of environmental factor common for co-twins, could not explain the variance in mental rotation ability. Furthermore, the additive genetic factor was the same between sexes (i.e., not qualitative sex differences for the additive genetic factor), indicating that the same genes affect mental rotation ability in both sexes. Despite this observation, the additive genetic influence was greater in males than in females. In contrast, the unique environmental influence was not different between sexes. Considering the current results and those of a previous study, the quantitative sex difference for the additive genetic influences in mental rotation ability may be universal, while the unique environmental differences may depend on the characteristics of specific populations.

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