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Separating mental transformations and spatial compatibility effects in the own body transformation task.

Mark May¹, Mike Wendt

¹Spatial Cognition Research Unit, Helmut-Schmidt-University, Holstenhofweg 85, 22043, Hamburg, Germany. mm@hsu-hh.de

Cognitive Processing

|July 19, 2012

Summary

Laterality judgments are faster and more accurate for back-facing figures, even when spatial stimulus-response compatibility is controlled. This finding supports mental transformation theories over simple compatibility effects.

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Area of Science:

Cognitive Psychology
Human Factors
Neuroscience

Background:

Laterality judgments of human figures are influenced by viewing perspective.
Previous research suggested a confounding of facing direction and spatial stimulus-response (S-R) compatibility.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the role of mental perspective transformation in laterality judgments.
To disentangle the effects of facing direction from spatial S-R compatibility.

Main Methods:

Two experiments were conducted using schematic human figures in neutral orientations to control for S-R compatibility.
Laterality judgments were assessed from the figure's perspective.
Stimuli were also presented in upright and upside-down orientations to assess compatibility effects.

Main Results:

A consistent back-facing advantage was observed, independent of S-R compatibility.
Spatial S-R compatibility significantly impacted judgments when figures were in upright or upside-down orientations.

Conclusions:

The findings support mental perspective transformation as a key mechanism in laterality judgments.
It is possible to differentiate between mental transformation costs and incompatibility costs in cognitive tasks.