The well-documented evidence that bilinguals demonstrate cognitive advantages over monolinguals is used as a foundation for the hypothesis that bilinguals will be better able to solve certain spatial tasks, and a theoretical framework for this hypothesis is constructed. The paper describes an experiment to explore this hypothesis. A series of spatial test items involving the comparison of diagrams of like and unlike pairs of knotted and unknotted ropes at varying orientations was given to 41 subjects. The subjects were 11 balanced bilingual Welsh/English and 30 monolingual English speakers. Bilinguals performed the tasks more quickly than monolinguals. The tasks were intended to stimulate the use of mental imagery in their execution. There was a difference in complexity across the 72 test items and some of the tasks were processed more slowly than others by all subjects. For example, rotation of one of the pair increased the processing time for both monolinguals and bilinguals. The results indicate that, as well as showing greater pro ciency overall, bilinguals were better able to deal with the more complex tasks. The ndings are taken to show a relationship between some aspects of spatial ability, mental imagery and bilingual language processing.
21 subjects were given a series of spatial test items involving the comparison of diagrams of interlaced ropes or knots at varying orientations. Knots were chosen because they are deformable and the manipulative tasks form a contrast to previous work on rigid objects and also because there is a mathematical structure to the study of their properties. Results are compared with previous work on the mental manipulation of rigid and semirigid objects. Certain knot shapes are easier to process than others and, as with rigid objects, rotation of one of the deformable objects increases the processing time. The nature and deformability of the knots allow strategies other than mental rotation, and these strategies are reported.
The study reported here considers the effect of rotation on the decision time taken to compare nonrigid objects, presented as like and unlike pairs of knots and unknots. The results for 48 subjects, 21 to 45 years old, support the notion that images which have a characteristic 'foundation part' are more easily stored and accessed in the brain. Also, there is evidence that the comparison of deformable objects is processed by mental strategies other than self-evident mental rotation.
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