Characteristics of Temporal Processing Within Mental Image Rotation (Individual Differences, Behavioral Toxicology, Cognitive).

Mental image rotation, used in processing rotated scenes or stimuli, is a good indicator of the status of one's visual intelligence. Measurement of this spatial ability is a sensitive indicator of cognitive damage, for example, in those who have been chronically exposed to industrial organic solvents and other neurotoxins. In order to ascribe incurred damage to specific stages of spatial processing, a precise model for the temporal events of mental rotation is required. The goal of this research was to take a first step in defining such a model, by analyzing the temporal build-up of stimulus knowledge during mental image rotation. When presented with a single, rotated alphanumeric character which must be identified as being either normal or mirror-reversed, mental rotation actually consists of several subprocesses. In addition to image rotation: initial determinations of stimulus identity, approximate orientation, and rotation direction. Information gained from these subprocesses may build continuously over time, or may build in a more discrete fashion as encoded stimulus information is operated upon. Two experiments were conducted, applying Meyer et al.'s (1985) reaction-time (RT) measurement procedure and Smith et al.'s (1982) analysis methodology to determine which of these two model types may best describe the information build-up during the processing of a rotated stimulus. A normal or mirror-reversed rotated character served as a priming stimulus for a second, upright test stimulus. With valid primes, a strategy of image rotation was required to adequately prepare a response for identifying the test stimulus. RTs to determine whether the test stimulus was normal or mirror-reversed were measured, and the shapes of subsequent RT distributions were compared. By modeling the statistical power of the analysis along with the results of the response-priming procedure, there was a clear indication that temporal information build-up across the subprocesses of mental rotation is not all-or-none. Instead, partial information is available from one or more subprocesses, suggesting that an entirely discrete model of these events is not appropriate.PhDExperimental psychologyUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/160665/1/8520904.pd