Laboratory of Cognitive Science and Immersive Virtual Reality, Department of Psychology, University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli", Caserta, Italy.
University of Lille, CNRS, CHU Lille, UMR 9193 - SCALab - Sciences Cognitives et Sciences Affectives, 59000, Lille, France.
Sci Rep. 2019 Feb 4;9(1):1169. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-37729-7.
This study aimed to explore the development of mental rotation ability throughout life by comparing different kinds of stimuli. Thirty-six children (6-9 years-old), 30 young (20-28 years-old) and 30 elderly people (60-82 years-old) performed mental rotation tasks with abstract (i.e. two-dimensional lines) and concrete stimuli (i.e. hands, human/animal faces). The results showed that overall young people outperformed children and elderly people, while children were less accurate than the elderly. However, the effect of age was shaped by the kinds of stimuli: (a) young people were more accurate than children and elderly people particularly with abstract stimuli; (b) elderly people improved their performance with images depicting faces; (c) children performed better with body-related stimuli than animal faces. Finally, performance was more difficult when stimuli were rotated by 180°, especially for younger and older females. We may conclude that the effects of age are modulated by the characteristics of the stimuli with a specific difficulty for abstract stimuli and a facilitation for concrete stimuli. As an innovative aspect, during childhood there appeared a specific facilitation for body-related stimuli, not just for concrete ones. These findings are interpreted according to embodied models of cognitive development and the effects of ageing on the brain.
本研究旨在通过比较不同类型的刺激，探索心理旋转能力在整个生命周期中的发展。36 名儿童（6-9 岁）、30 名年轻人（20-28 岁）和 30 名老年人（60-82 岁）使用抽象刺激（即二维线）和具体刺激（即手、人和动物的脸）进行心理旋转任务。结果表明，总体而言，年轻人的表现优于儿童和老年人，而儿童的准确性低于老年人。然而，年龄的影响受到刺激类型的影响：（a）年轻人比儿童和老年人更准确，特别是在使用抽象刺激时；（b）老年人在描绘人脸的图像上表现更好；（c）儿童在与身体相关的刺激上表现优于动物的脸。最后，当刺激旋转 180°时，尤其是对年轻和年长的女性来说，表现更加困难。我们可以得出结论，年龄的影响受到刺激特征的调节，对于抽象刺激具有特定的难度，而对于具体刺激则具有促进作用。作为一个创新点，在儿童时期，除了具体刺激外，还出现了对与身体相关的刺激的特定促进作用。这些发现根据认知发展的具身模型和大脑老化的影响进行了解释。
