Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

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

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Evolutionary Psychological Science Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Mental rotation is a cognitive process that involves performing rotations on visual images or objects, which has played a significant role in humans’ evolutionary past. Sex differences in mental rotation ability have been extensively assessed using the Vandenberg and Kuse (1978) Mental Rotations Test. This test produces consistently higher scores for men than women, which has led numerous researchers to conclude that males have superior mental rotation ability. The causes of this sex difference have been widely debated, and research remains inconclusive. Various researchers have challenged the legitimacy of this male advantage by investigating moderating factors that are part of the assessment process. Here we show, through the use of photographs and three-dimensional models, that the form of the stimuli can eliminate the sex difference. Our results suggest that the sex difference found on this test is not due to a male advantage in spatial ability, but is an artifact of the stimuli.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Annett, M. (1992). Spatial ability in subgroups of left- and right-handers. British Journal of Psychology, 47, 730–747.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boone, A. P., & Hegarty, M. (2017). Sex differences in mental rotation tasks: not just in the mental rotation process! Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 43(7), 1005–1019.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Daly, M., & Wilson, M. (2001). Risk-taking, intrasexual competition, and homicide. Nebraska Symposium on Motivation, 47, 1–36.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Estes, Z., & Felker, S. (2012). Confidence mediates the sex difference in mental rotation performance. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 41, 557–570.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fisher, M., Cox, A., & Zhao, L. (2006). Using sex differences to link spatial cognition and program comprehension. Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Software Maintenance, 289–298.

  • Gallagher, A., & De Lisi, R. (1994). Gender differences in scholastic aptitude test—mathematics problem solving among high-ability students. Journal of Educational Psychology, 86, 204–211.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gardony, A. L., Taylor, H. A., & Brunyé, T. T. (2013). What does physical rotation reveal about mental rotation? Psychological Science, 25(2), 605–612. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797613503174.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gaulin, S. J., & FitzGerald, R. W. (1989). Sexual selection for spatial learning ability. Animal Behavior, 37, 322–331.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geary, D. C. (1995). Sexual selection and sex differences in spatial cognition. Learning and Individual Differences, 7, 289–301.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geary, D. C., Gilger, J. W., & Elliot-Miller, B. (1992). Gender differences in three-dimensional mental rotation: a replication. Journal of Genetic Differences, 153, 115–117.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gentaz, E., & Hatwell, Y. (1995). The haptic “oblique effect” in children’s and adults’ perception of orientation. Perception, 24, 631–646.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Goldstein, D., Haldane, D., & Mitchell, C. (1990). Sex differences in visual-spatial ability: the role of performance factors. Memory & Cognition, 18, 546–550.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gur, R. C., Alsop, D., Glahn, D., Petty, R., Swanson, C. L., Maldjian, J. A., Turetsky, B. I., Detre, J. A., Gee, J., & Gur, R. E. (2000). An fMRI study of sex differences in regional activation to a verbal and spatial task. Brain and Language, 74, 157–170.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Halpern, D. F. (2012). Sex differences in cognitive abilities (4th ed.). NY: Psychology Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hedges, L. V., & Nowell, A. (1995). Gender differences in mental test scores, variability and numbers of high-scoring individuals. Science, 269, 41–45.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Helgeson, V. (2005). Psychology of gender (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River: Prentice-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hirnstein, M., Bayer, U., & Hausmann, M. (2009). Sex-specific response strategies in mental rotation. Learning and Individual Differences, 19(2), 225–228.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jansen, P., Zayed, K., & Osmann, R. (2016). Gender differences in mental rotation in Oman and Germany. Learning and Individual Differences, 51, 284–290.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaufman, S. B. (2007). Sex differences in mental rotation and spatial visualization ability: can they be accounted for by differences in working memory capacity? Intelligence, 35, 211–223. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2006.07.009.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaushall, P., & Parson, L. M. (1981). Optical information and practice in the discrimination of three-dimensional objects. Canadian Journal of Psychology, 46, 170–190.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kimura, D. (1999). Sex and cognition. Cambridge: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Linn, M. C., & Peterson, A. C. (1985). Emergence and characterization of gender differences in spatial abilities: a meta-analysis. Child Development, 56, 1479–1498.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Masters, M. S. (1998). The gender difference on the Mental Rotations Test is not due to performance factors. Memory and Cognition, 26, 444–448.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Masters, M. S., & Sanders, B. (1993). Is the gender difference in mental rotation disappearing? Behavior Genetics, 23, 337–341.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Maccoby, E. E., & Jacklin, C. N. (1974). Psychology of sex differences. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • McWilliams, W., Hamilton, C. J., & Muncer, S. J. (1997). On mental rotation in three dimensions. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 85, 297–298.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Moè, A. (2016). Teaching motivation and strategies to improve mental rotation abilities. Intelligence, 59, 16–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moreau, D., Clerc, J., Mansy-Dannay, A., & Guerrien, A. (2012). Enhancing spatial ability through sport practice: evidence for an effect of motor training on mental rotation performance. Journal of Individual Differences, 33, 83–88. https://doi.org/10.1027/1614-0001/a000075.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moreau, D., Mansy-Dannay, A., Clerc, J., & Guerrien, A. (2010). Academic program and mental rotation performance: evidence for a developmental effect on individual differences in early adulthood. GESJ: Education Science and Psychology, 2(17), 21–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nazareth, A., Herrera, A., & Pruden, S. M. (2013). Explaining sex differences in mental rotation: role of spatial activity experience. Cognitive Processing, 14(2), 201–204.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Parsons, L. M. (1995). Inability to reason about an object’s orientation using an axis and angle of rotation. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 21, 1259–1277.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parsons, T. D., Larson, P., Kratz, K., Thiebaux, M., Bluestein, B., Buckwalter, J. G., & Rizzo, A. A. (2004). Sex differences in mental rotation and spatial rotation in a virtual environment. Neuropsychologia, 42(4), 555–562.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pazzaglia, F., & Moè, A. (2013). Cognitive styles and mental rotation ability in map learning. Cognitive Processing, 14(4), 391–399. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-013-0572-2.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Peters, M. (2005). Sex differences and the factor of time in solving Vandenberg and Kuse mental rotation problems. Brain and Cognition, 57, 176–184.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pletzer, B. (2014). Sex-specific strategy use and global-local processing: a perspective toward integrating sex differences in cognition. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 8, 425. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2014.00425.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Resnick, S. (1993). Sex differences in mental rotations: an effect of time limits? Brain and Cognition, 21, 71–79.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Robert, M., & Chevrier, E. (2003). Does men’s advantage in mental rotation persist when real three-dimensional objects are either felt or seen? Memory and Cognition, 31, 1136–1145.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Saucier, D. M., McCreary, D. R., & Saxberg, J. K. J. (2002). Does gender role socialization mediate sex differences in mental rotations? Personality and Individual Differences, 32, 1101–1111.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shepard, R., & Metzler, J. (1971). Mental rotation of three-dimensional objects. Science, 171, 701–703.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Silverman, I., Choi, J., Mackewn, A., Fisher, M., Moro, J., & Olshansky, E. (2000). Evolved mechanisms underlying wayfinding: further studies on the hunter-gatherer theory of spatial sex differences. Evolution and Human Behavior, 21(3), 201–213.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Silverman, I., & Phillips, K. (1993). Effects of estrogen changes during the menstrual cycle on spatial performance. Ethology and Sociobiology, 14, 257–270.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Symons, D. (1979). The evolution of human sexuality. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turkle, S., & Papert, S. (1990). Epistemological pluralism: styles and voices within the computer culture. Signs, 16, 128–157.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vandenberg, S. G., & Kuse, A. R. (1978). Mental rotations, a group test of three-dimensional spatial visualization. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 47, 599–604.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vashro, L., & Cashdan, E. (2015). Spatial cognition, mobility, and reproductive success in northwestern Namibia. Evolution and Human Behavior, 36(2), 123–129.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Voyer, D. (1997). Scoring procedure, performance factors and magnitude of sex differences in spatial performance. American Journal of Psychology, 110, 259–276.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Voyer, D., & Hou, J. (2006). Type of items and the magnitude of gender differences on the Mental Rotations Test. Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology, 60, 91–100.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Voyer, D., Nolan, C., & Voyer, S. (2000). The relation between experience and spatial performance in men and women. Sex Roles, 43, 891–915.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Voyer, D., & Saunders, K. (2004). Gender differences on the mental rotations test: a factor analysis. Acta Psychologia, 117, 79–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Voyer, D., Voyer, S., & Bryden, M. P. (1995). Magnitude of sex differences in spatial abilities: a meta-analysis and consideration of critical variables. Psychological Bulletin, 117, 250–270.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wohlschälger, A., & Wohlschälger, A. (1998). Mental and manual rotation. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 24, 397–412.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Saint Mary’s University, 923 Robie Street, Halifax, NS, B3H 3C3, Canada

    Maryanne L. Fisher

  2. Department of Math & Computer Science, Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, Canada

    Tami Meredith

  3. Student Development & Counseling, SAIT Polytechnic, Calgary, Canada

    Melissa Gray

Authors
  1. Maryanne L. Fisher
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Tami Meredith
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Melissa Gray
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maryanne L. Fisher.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Fisher, M.L., Meredith, T. & Gray, M. Sex Differences in Mental Rotation Ability Are a Consequence of Procedure and Artificiality of Stimuli. Evolutionary Psychological Science 4, 124–133 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40806-017-0120-x

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40806-017-0120-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation