The gender effect in 3D-Mental-rotation performance with familiar and gender-stereotyped objects – a study with elementary school children. Issue 6 (18th August 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ruthsatz, Vera; Neuburger, Sarah; Rahe, Martina; Jansen, Petra; Quaiser-Pohl, Claudia
• Is Part Of: Journal of cognitive psychology. Volume 29:Issue 6(2017)
• Page Start: 717
• Page End: 730
• Publication Date: 2017-08-18
• Subjects: Mental rotation -- gender differences -- stimulus type -- stereotypes -- children; Cognitive psychology -- Periodicals; 153.05
• DOI: 10.1080/20445911.2017.1312689
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2044-5911

Abstract

ABSTRACT: The study examined the influence of gender-stereotyped stimuli rotated in depth on children's mental-rotation performance. Participants included 321 elementary school children who completed three-dimensional mental-rotation tasks with either male- or female-stereotyped stimuli (M-MRT-3D/F-MRT-3D). Results suggest that in-depth tasks are very difficult for second graders. No gender effect was found in the mental-rotation performance of 7- to 9-year-old children; however, task understanding indicates gender differences. For fourth graders, a significant interaction of gender and stimulus type could be demonstrated. Furthermore, results indicate that fourth-grade boys tend to guess more often in tasks with stimuli consistent to the respective own gender. In addition, regression analyses showed that next to grade and perceptual speed, the perceived level of stimulus familiarity predicted performance. Considering a possible link between dimensionality and familiarity, the influence of the gender-stereotyped stimuli on children's confidence and task understanding as well as on transformational processes and strategy efficiency is discussed.