The link between mental rotation ability and basic numerical representations

Abstract

Mental rotation and number representation have both been studied widely, but although mental rotation has been linked to higher-level mathematical skills, to date it has not been shown whether mental rotation ability is linked to the most basic mental representation and processing of numbers. To investigate the possible connection between mental rotation abilities and numerical representation, 43 participants completed four tasks: 1) a standard pen-and-paper mental rotation task; 2) a multi-digit number magnitude comparison task assessing the compatibility effect, which indicates separate processing of decade and unit digits; 3) a number-line mapping task, which measures precision of number magnitude representation; and 4) a random number generation task, which yields measures both of executive control and of spatial number representations. Results show that mental rotation ability correlated significantly with both size of the compatibility effect and with number mapping accuracy, but not with any measures from the random number generation task. Together, these results suggest that higher mental rotation abilities are linked to more developed number representation, and also provide further evidence for the connection between spatial and numerical abilities.

Spatial skills first: The importance of mental rotation for arithmetic skill acquisition

“…The present findings are potentially informative for the design and implementation of training studies. Previous research highlighted the positive role of spatial skills for basic number processing (Crollen & Noël, 2015;Thompson et al, 2013) and more complex mathematical calculations and/or mathematical expertise (Geary, Saults, Liu, & Hoard, 2000;Sella, Sader, Lolliot, & Cohen Kadosh, 2016;Wei, Yuan, Chen, & Zhou, 2012; see also review by de Hevia, Vallar, & Girelli, 2008). We show that spatial skills, notably mental rotation, are also important for basic arithmetic, especially at the stage of skill acquisition.…”

“…Symbolic numerical abilities have been consistently reported to be a strong predictor of performances in mathematics (e.g., Sasanguie, Göbel, Moll, Smets, & Reynvoet, 2013;Schneider et al, 2017). In addition, they relate to spatial skills, notably mental rotation (e.g., Thompson et al, 2013). To control for the prominent effect of domain-specific basic symbolic number skills on arithmetic performances and to determine whether mental rotation can explain additional variance especially at the acquisition stage, we included a symbolic magnitude classification task as a control measure in our analyses.…”

In touch with numbers: Embodied and situated effects in number magnitude comparison

“…This argument of a physically spatial (left-right) differentiation between tens and units is further corroborated by a recent study evaluating the association between place-value processing reflected by the UD compatibility effect and mental rotation. Thompson, Nuerk, Moeller, and Cohen Kadosh (2013) observed that the better participants were able to differentiate tens from units (as indicated by a relatively higher compatibility effect) the better was their mental rotation performance. The authors interpreted this to indicate that being able to process tens and units spatially separated helps to keep track of different features of an object when mentally rotating itwhich clearly emphasises the spatial place aspect of the representation of the place-value structure of Arabic numbers.…”

A Neuropsychological Approach of Developmental Dyscalculia and a Screening Test Via a Web Application

“…Moreover, memory deficits cause a confusion on mathematic terminology [24], on performing mental calculation [25] and on keeping track on steps on problem solving [26]. Furthermore, several studies suggests [27,28,29] that there is a positive correlation between visual spatial perception and mathematical ability. In other words, children that perform better in spatial tasks, perform better in mathematical tests.…”