The cognitive mechanisms of the power-space associations: an individual differences approach

A power-space interaction, which denotes the phenomenon that people responded faster to powerful words with up cursor keys and faster to powerless words with down cursor keys, has been repeatedly found. In the present study, we took an individual differences approach to investigate how the power-space interaction is modulated by the spatial cognition. First, we found that the amplitude of power-space interaction was relatively stable within individuals across different stimuli. And, this individual difference in power-space interaction was correlated with the individual's spatial cognition, in such a way that participants with faster speed of mental rotation showed stronger power-space interactions. Our results shed new light on the cognitive mechanisms of the power-space associations by suggesting that spatial codes play an important role in the expression of such effect.