Grewe Philip, Ohmann Hanno A, Markowitsch Hans J, Piefke Martina
Physiological Psychology, Bielefeld University, PO Box 100131, 33501, Bielefeld, Germany,
Cogn Process. 2014 May;15(2):159-72. doi: 10.1007/s10339-013-0587-8. Epub 2013 Oct 31.
Several authors pointed out that left-right discrimination (LRD) tasks may be entangled with differential demands on mental rotation (MR). However, studies considering this interrelationship are rare. To differentially assess LRD of stimuli with varying additional demands on MR, we constructed and evaluated an extended version of the Bergen right-left discrimination (BRLD) test including additional subtests with inverted stickmen stimuli in 174 healthy participants (50♂, 124♀) and measured subjective reports on participants' strategies to accomplish the task. Moreover, we analyzed practice effects and reliable change indices (RCIs) on BRLD performance, as well as gender differences. Performance significantly differed between subtests with high and low demands on MR with best scores on subtests with low demands on MR. Participants' subjective strategies corroborate these results: MR was most frequently reported for subtests with highest MR demands (and lowest test performance). Pronounced practice effects were observed for all subtests. Sex differences were not observed. We conclude that our extended version of the BRLD allows for the differentiation between LRD with high and low demands on MR abilities. The type of stimulus materials is likely to be critical for the differential assessment of MR and LRD. Moreover, RCIs provide a basis for the clinical application of the BRLD.
几位作者指出，左右辨别（LRD）任务可能与对心理旋转（MR）的不同要求相互交织。然而，考虑这种相互关系的研究很少。为了以对MR的不同额外要求来差异评估刺激的LRD，我们构建并评估了卑尔根左右辨别（BRLD）测试的扩展版本，该版本包括对174名健康参与者（50名男性，124名女性）使用倒转火柴人刺激的额外子测试，并测量了参与者完成任务策略的主观报告。此外，我们分析了BRLD表现的练习效应和可靠变化指数（RCI），以及性别差异。对MR要求高和低的子测试之间的表现有显著差异，对MR要求低的子测试得分最高。参与者的主观策略证实了这些结果：在对MR要求最高（测试表现最低）的子测试中，最常报告使用了MR。所有子测试都观察到了明显的练习效应。未观察到性别差异。我们得出结论，我们的BRLD扩展版本允许区分对MR能力要求高和低的LRD。刺激材料的类型可能对MR和LRD的差异评估至关重要。此外，RCI为BRLD的临床应用提供了基础。
