The DOI matches its Crossref record; 2 of the 2 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Sex Differences in Mental Rotation with Polygons of Different Complexity: Do Men Utilize Holistic Processes whereas Women Prefer Piecemeal Ones?
Abstract
Sex differences in mental rotation were investigated as a function of stimulus complexity with a sample size of N = 72. Replicating earlier findings with polygons, mental rotation was faster for males than for females, and reaction time increased with more complex polygons. Additionally, sex differences increased for complex polygons. Most importantly, however, mental rotation speed decreased with increasing complexity for women but did not change for men. Thus, the sex effects reflect a difference in strategy, with women mentally rotating the polygons in an analytic, piecemeal fashion and men using a holistic mode of mental rotation.
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“Several papers have found women use different, often piecemeal, strategies in spatial tasks (Cherney & Collaer, 2005;Heil & Jansen-Osmann, 2008;Picucci et al., 2011)”
From Factors Related to Mean Score Group Differences on Cognitive Ability Tests: A Systematic Review (2025) · cites this paper as Heil & Jansen-Osmann, 2008
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Wang, M.-T., & Degol, J. (2013) · Developmental Review · doi:10.1016/j.dr.2013.08.001 · Cited by 837
“Some researchers have shifted their focus to examining gendered differences in strategy, pointing out that males use more efficient strategies when solving spatial problems (Heil & Jansen-Osmann, 2008).”
BackgroundEarly Puzzle Play: A predictor of preschoolers’ spatial transformation skill
Levine, S. C., Ratliff, K., Huttenlocher, J., & Cannon, J. E. (2011) · Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0025913 · Cited by 382
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BackgroundResultA meta-analysis of sex differences in human navigation skills
Nazareth, A., Huang, X., Voyer, D., & Newcombe, N. (2019) · Psychonomic Bulletin & Review · doi:10.3758/s13423-019-01633-6 · Cited by 201
Metadata
- Authors
- Heil, M., & Jansen-Osmann, P.
- Affiliations
- Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (DE)
- Heinrich-Heine-University, Düsseldorf, Germany
- ORCID
- Heil, Martin
- Venue
- Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2008-05
- Volume
- 61
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 683-689
- ISSN
- 0033-555X (ISSN-L)
- 1747-0218
- 1747-0226
- OpenAlex
- W2031997641
- Cited by
- 151
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 18 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 7
- FWCI
- 16.41
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Spatial Cognition and Navigation
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Cognitive and developmental aspects of mathematical skills
- Social Sciences › Linguistics and Language › Language, Metaphor, and Cognition
- Keywords
- sex differences, mental rotation, holistic processing, spatial cognition, reaction time, gender differences in spatial ability
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Cognition, Female, Form Perception, Humans, Imagination, Male, Photic Stimulation, Reaction Time, Rotation, Sex Factors, Space Perception
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