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ERIC Number: EJ935891
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1525-0008
EISSN: N/A
Mental Rotation of Dynamic, Three-Dimensional Stimuli by 3-Month-Old Infants
Moore, David S.; Johnson, Scott P.
Infancy, v16 n4 p435-445 Jul-Aug 2011
Mental rotation involves transforming a mental image of an object so as to accurately predict how the object would look if it were rotated in space. This study examined mental rotation in male and female 3-month-olds, using the stimuli and paradigm developed by Moore and Johnson (2008). Infants were habituated to a video of a three-dimensional object rotating back and forth through a 240 degree angle around the vertical axis. After habituation, infants were tested both with videos of the same object rotating through the previously unseen 120 degree angle, and with the mirror image of that display. Unlike females, who fixated the test displays for approximately equal durations, males spent significantly more time fixating the familiar object than the mirror-image object. Because familiarity preferences like this emerge when infants are relatively slow to process a habituation stimulus, the data support the interpretation that mental rotation of dynamic three-dimensional stimuli is relatively difficult--but possible--for 3-month-old males. Interpretation of the sex differences observed in 3- and 5-month-olds' performances is discussed. (Contains 3 figures.)
Wiley-Blackwell. 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148. Tel: 800-835-6770; Tel: 781-388-8598; Fax: 781-388-8232; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2429
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A