Relation between Sport Activity and Mental Rotation: Comparison of Three Groups of Subjects

The aim was to observe the relation between sport activity and performance on a mental image-transformation task. A classical mental rotation task using abstract stimuli was administered to three groups: (a) gymnasts who used mental and physical rotations in their practice, (b) athletes whose activi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPerceptual and motor skills Vol. 95; no. 3_suppl; pp. 1141 - 1154
Main Authors Ozel, Sylvie, Larue, Jacques, Molinaro, Corinne
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.12.2002
SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
Ammons Scientific
Subjects
Adolescent
Adult
Cognition & reasoning
Cognitive science
Comparative analysis
Humanities and Social Sciences
Humans
Imagination
Learning
Male
Mental Processes
Neuroscience
Psychology
Psychomotor Performance
Random Allocation
Reaction Time
Rotation
Sports
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Summary:The aim was to observe the relation between sport activity and performance on a mental image-transformation task. A classical mental rotation task using abstract stimuli was administered to three groups: (a) gymnasts who used mental and physical rotations in their practice, (b) athletes whose activities required very little motor rotation, and (c) nonathletes. Both sport groups performed similarly and obtained significantly shorter response times than those of the nonathletes. We suggest that the regular practice of spatial activities, such as sports, could be related to the spatial capacities of the participants.
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ISSN:0031-5125
1558-688X
DOI:10.2466/pms.2002.95.3f.1141