Script Author: Katja Borchert, Ph.D. (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond
Created: January 10, 2015
Last Modified: January 07, 2025 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond
Script Copyright © Millisecond Software, LLC
This script implements a Mental Rotation Test for children. This script is run with keyboard input. If this script is run on a touchscreen without attached keyboard, the necessary response keys will automatically be provided.
The implemented procedure is based on:
Wiedenbauer, G. & Jansen-Osmann, P. (2008). Manual training of mental rotation in children. Learning and Instruction, 18, 30-41.
7 minutes
Participants are presented 2 pictures of the same animal: on the left, participants see the animal with a 0° rotation (the base stimulus) and on the right, participants see a rotated animal (8 different rotation angles: ~22.5°, ~67.5°, ~112.5°, ~157.5°; clock and counterclockwise). The rotated pic is either derived from the base stimulus or it is derived from the mirror image of the base.
Keyboard version: Participants are asked to press the left 'A' key if the two animals are the same and the right 'L' key if they are different
Practice:
• 24 trials = 2 animals * 6 rotation angles * 2 presentations
(one with same comparison animal, the other with mirror comparison animal)
the animals presented during practice are not used for any test condition
• 2 pictures of the same animal presented for each trial: left is the base (0° rotation);
on the right is the rotated comparison stimuli
• 6 rotation angles: 15°, 90°, 165° degrees clockwise and counterclockwise
( Wiedenbauer & Jansen-Osmann, 2008, don't specify the number of animals nor the practice angles used)
• half the base animals look to the left, the other to the right
• half the trials are 'same' trials (the other half present the mirror image as the comparison animal)
• random sampling without replacement
• positive and negative feedback is given by smiley/frowny faces
Test
• 6 animals are randomly selected from 24 possible ones
• 96 trials= 6 animals * 8 angles (4 angles clock and counterclockwise) * 2 presentations (one with same comparison animal, the other with mirror comparison animal)
• 2 pictures of the same animal presented for each trial: left is the base (0° rotation);
on the right is the rotated comparison stimuli
• 8 rotation angles: ~22.5°, ~67.5°, ~112.5°, ~157.5° (clock and counterclockwise) -
can be edited under section Editable Parameters
• half the bases look to the left, the other to the right
• half the trials are 'Same' trials (the other half present the mirror image as the comp animal)
• random sampling without replacement
• no feedback
Trial Sequence:
Fixation Cross (500ms) -> Base/Comp Stimuli (until response)
Stimuli are animals from the 'Snodgrass and Vanderwart 'Like' Objects' introduced by
Rossion, B., & Pourtois, G. (2004). Revisiting Snodgrass and Vanderwart's object set:
The role of surface detail in basic-level object recognition. Perception, 33, 217-236.
The complete stimuli set can be downloaded at:
https://wiki.cnbc.cmu.edu/Objects
( original link published in Rossion & Pourtois (2004) does not work as of Feb 2015)
2 Practice Stimuli: fish, frog
24 Test Stimuli (6 randomly selected for the test)
alligator, bear, bunny, camel, cat, cow, deer, dog, donkey, elephant, fox, goat, horse
leopard, lion, monkey, mouse, pig, racoon, rhino, sealion, sheep, tiger, turtle
Instructions are not original to the task. They are provided by Millisecond
as htm/html pages and can be edited by changing the provided htm/html files.
To edit htm/html-files: open the respective documents in simple Text Editors such as TextEdit (Mac)
or Notepad (Windows).
File Name: mentalrotation_children_testonly_keyboard_summary*.iqdat
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| inquisit.version | Inquisit version number |
| computer.platform | Device platform: win | mac |ios | android |
| startDate | Date the session was run |
| startTime | Time the session was run |
| subjectId | Participant ID |
| groupId | Group number |
| sessionId | Session number |
| elapsedTime | Session duration in ms |
| completed | 0 = Test was not completed 1 = Test was completed |
| test6 | Store the 6 animals assigned to the test (in itemnumbers from item.testanimals) |
| propCorrectOverall | Overall proportion correct (across all test trials) |
| meanCorrRTOverall | Overall mean response time of correct responses (across all test trials) |
Main Effect: Sameness |
|
| propCorrectSame | Proportion correct for all Same trials (across all angles) |
| meanCorrRTSame | Mean response time of correct responses to Same trials (across all angles) |
| propCorrectMirror | Proportion correct for all Mirror trials (across all angles) |
| meanCorrRTMirror | Mean response time of correct responses to Mirror trials (across all angles) |
Main Effect: Angle |
|
| propCorrectAngle1 | Proportion correct for all angle1 (here: 22.5deg) (across same/mirror trials) |
| meanCorrRTAngle1 | Mean response time of correct responses to all angle1 (here: 22.5deg) trials (across same/mirror trials) |
| propCorrectAngle2 | Proportion correct for all angle2 (here: 67.5deg) (across same/mirror trials) |
| meanCorrRTAngle2 | Mean response time of correct responses to all angle2 (here: 67.5deg) trials (across same/mirror trials) |
| propCorrectAngle3 | Proportion correct for all angle3 (here: 112.5deg) (across same/mirror trials) |
| meanCorrRTAngle3 | Mean response time of correct responses to all angle3 (here: 112.5deg) trials (across same/mirror trials) |
| propCorrectAngle4 | Proportion correct for all angle1 (here: 157.5.5deg) (across same/mirror trials) |
| meanCorrRTAngle4 | Mean response time of correct responses to all angle1 (here: 157.5deg) trials (across same/mirror trials) |
Interaction: Sameness X Angle |
|
| propCorrectSameAngle1 | Proportion correct for all same Angle1 (here: 22.5deg) trials |
| meanCorrRTSameAngle1 | Mean response time of correct responses to all same Angle1 (here: 22.5deg) trials |
| propCorrectSameAngle2 | Proportion correct for all same Angle2 (here: 67.5deg) trials |
| meanCorrRTSameAngle2 | Mean response time of correct responses to all same Angle2 (here: 67.5deg) trials |
| propCorrectSameAngle3 | Proportion correct for all same Angle3 (here: 112.5deg) trials |
| meanCorrRTSameAngle3 | Mean response time of correct responses to all same Angle3 (here: 112.5deg) trials |
| propCorrectSameAngle4 | Proportion correct for all same Angle4 (here: 157.5deg) trials |
| meanCorrRTSameAngle4 | Mean response time of correct responses to all same Angle4 (here: 157.5deg) trials |
| propCorrectMirrorAngle1 | Proportion correct for all Mirror Angle1 (here: 22.5deg) trials |
| meanCorrRTMirrorAngle1 | Mean response time of correct responses to all Mirror Angle1 (here: 22.5deg) trials |
| propCorrectMirrorAngle2 | Proportion correct for all Mirror Angle2 (here: 67.5deg) trials |
| meanCorrRTMirrorAngle2 | Mean response time of correct responses to all Mirror Angle2 (here: 67.5deg) trials |
| propCorrectMirrorAngle3 | Proportion correct for all Mirror Angle3 (here: 112.5deg) trials |
| meanCorrRTMirrorAngle3 | Mean response time of correct responses to all Mirror Angle3 (here: 112.5deg) trials |
| propCorrectMirrorAngle4 | Proportion correct for all Mirror Angle4 (here: 157.5deg) trials |
| meanCorrRTMirrorAngle4 | Mean response time of correct responses to all Mirror Angle4 (here: 157.5deg) trials |
File Name: mentalrotation_children_testonly_keyboard_raw*.iqdat
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| build | Inquisit version number |
| computer.platform | Device platform: win | mac |ios | android |
| date | Date the session was run |
| time | Time the session was run |
| subject, group, | With the current subject/groupnumber |
| session | Session number |
| blockCode | Name of the current block |
| blockNum | Number of the current block |
| trialCode | Name of the current trial |
| trialNum | Number of the current trial |
| test6 | Store the 6 animals assigned to the test (in itemnumbers from item.testanimals) |
| baseItemNumber | Stores the current base animal item number being tested (0 = bear....23 = turtle, in alphabetical order) |
| compItemNumber | Stores the current comp animal item number Note if Sameness = 0 then the comp item number should equal the base itemnumber if Sameness = 1 then the comp item number be different from the base itemnumber |
| direction | 1 = base looks left 2 = base looks right |
| angle | Stores the current rotation angle being tested |
| sameness | 1 = comp is the same as base 2 = comp is mirror image of base(looks in opposite direction) |
| stimulusItem.1 | The image presented as the base |
| stimulusItem.2 | The image presented as the comp rotation is done on the comp image during runtime; no need for a different image file |
| response | The participant's key response (scancode of response key) 'A' (same key) 'L' (mirror key) |
| responseCategory | 1 = same 2 = mirror |
| correct | The accuracy of the response (1 = correct; 0 = incorrect) |
| latency | The response latency (in ms); measured from onset of stimuli |
The procedure can be adjusted by setting the following parameters.
| Name | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
| fontSizeFixation | Fontsize of the fixation mark in screen height percentages | 15% |
| readyDuration | Duration (in ms) of the get-ready-trial applies only to keyboard version | 5000ms |
| fixationDuration | Presentation duration (in ms) of the fixation stimulus test Angles (used clock and counterclockwise) | 500ms |
| rotationAngle1 | The smallest rotation angle (here: 22.5deg) | |
| rotationAngle2 | The second smallest rotation angle (here: 67.5deg) | |
| rotationAngle3 | The second largest rotation angle (here: 112.5deg) | |
| rotationAngle4 | The largest rotation angle (here: 157.5deg) |