Poster #24 - A New Task for Assessing Toddler Mental Rotation

• In Event: 2-163 - Poster Session 08
  In Poster Session: PS 08 Section - Cognitive Processes

Integrative Statement

Mental rotation, the ability to imagine an object’s appearance from a distinct orientation, is an important spatial skill that has been linked to mathematical achievement and entry into the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematical fields (e.g., Mix et al., 2016; Wai, Lubinski, & Benbow, 2009). Several studies have documented infant mental rotation (e.g., Constantinescu et al., 2017; Lauer et al., 2015; Quinn & Liben, 2008, 2014), but none have done so with toddlers in part because measures appropriate for infants or preschoolers are not as appropriate for young children of 2 to 3.5 years. In the present study, we piloted a new measure of mental rotation for toddlers and young preschool-aged children.

Specifically, we adapted a preschool task of mental rotation, the Picture Rotation Task (Quaiser-Pohl, 2003), for use with 2- and 3-year-old children. Children sat with an experimenter in front of a monitor. The directionality of a target, an upright cartoon crocodile, was noted using landmarks in the room. Children then viewed two options, an identical match or a mirror image (see Figure 1). Children were asked which option was facing the same direction as the target. The experimenter recorded the child’s response with a mouse click. Correct responses were rewarded with an animation and sticker. Once children provided two consecutive correct responses, they were tested with 10 rotation items in which the target was rotated 45, 90, 135, or 180 degrees from upright.

Participants were 41 toddlers between 18-40 months (M = 2.92 years, SD = .43, 20 female) and 34 children of 3.5 to 4.9 years (M = 4.09 years, SD = .44, 19 females). A 2 (age: younger vs. older) x 2 (sex: male vs. female) x 4 (Rotation Angle: 45 vs. 90 vs. 135 vs. 180 degrees) analysis of variance on children’s percent correct yielded only a significant effect of Rotation Angle, F (3, 71) = 4.35, p = .005. Pairwise comparisons, with Bonferroni adjustments, showed that children were more accurate when the target was rotated 45 than 135 or 180 degrees, p’s < .01. Children were above chance on the two lower angles of rotation (i.e., 45, 90 degrees), p’s <.05, but at chance for the items at the higher angles (i.e., 135, 180 degrees).

These results document that children’s accuracy decreased as the angle of rotation increased, consistent with previous studies of mental rotation in children and adults. Critically, there were no significant age effects. The younger children scored above chance on the task, particularly with items with lower angles of rotations (i.e., 45, 90 degrees). To validate the toddler mental rotation task, we will next compare performance on the present task with established measures of mental rotation, recruiting a sample of children of 3.5 to 4.5 years of age.

Authors

• Eunice Yiu, Cornell University
  Presenting Author

• Sabrina Kazi, Cornell University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Marianella Casasola, Cornell University
  Non-Presenting Author