Welcome to the Mental Rotation Experiment

Before we begin the experiment, we need to collect some information about you.

1. Indicate your gender: Female Male Non-binary Other

2. Indicate your hand preference: Right-handed Left-handed Ambidextrous

3. Choose your course section:

Hope College PsychLabs: Mental Rotation Experiment

General Instructions

Introducing the Mental Rotation Experiment

This experiment is designed to measure how long it takes people to make decisions about rotated letters.

On each trial you will see a black letter "R" in a red circle.

The letter will appear in one of 6 different orientations—the typical orientation (vertical) or rotated to one of 5 other positions (60, 120, 180, 240, or 300 degrees from the vertical).

Hope College PsychLabs: Mental Rotation Experiment

General Instructions Page 2

Normal Letters

On half the trials you will see a normal letter—that is, a letter "R" that has been rotated but not flipped, as shown in these examples.

These letters could be rotated to match a standard "R" without flipping the letter.

Hope College PsychLabs: Mental Rotation Experiment

General Instructions Page 3

Backward Letters

On the other half of the trials, you will see a backward letter—that is, a letter "R" that has been flipped so that it is a mirror image of a normal "R",
and thus could never be rotated into a position that matches a normal "R", as these examples illustrate.

You must decide whether each letter is "normal" or "backward".
If the letter is "normal", press the N key. If the letter is "backward", press the B key.
Please try to press the key as quickly as you can without making mistakes.

To familiarize you with the task, we will begin with 12 Practice Trials.

Hope College PsychLabs: Mental Rotation Experiment

PRACTICE TRIALS

Instructions for Practice Trials

Now you will go through 12 Practice Trials. Please place your left index finger on the B key and your right index finger on the N key.
You will begin each trial by pressing the SPACE BAR with your thumb.

On each trial you must decide whether the letter is "normal" or "backward".
If the letter is "normal", press the N ("normal") key. If the letter is "backward", press the B ("backward") key.

Please try to press the key as quickly as you can without making mistakes.

When you are ready to begin the 12 Practice Trials, press the "Begin Practice Trials" button.

Hope College PsychLabs: Mental Rotation Experiment

TEST TRIALS

Instructions for Test Trials

Now you will go through 60 Test Trials. Please place your left index finger on the N key and your right index finger on the M key. You will begin each trial by pressing the SPACE BAR with your thumb.

On each trial you must decide whether the letter is "normal" or "backward".
If the letter is "normal", press the N ("normal") key. If the letter is "backward", press the B ("backward") key.

Please try to press the key as quickly as you can without making mistakes.

When you are ready to begin the 60 Test Trials, press the "Begin Test Trials" button.

Hope College PsychLabs: Mental Rotation Experiment

PRACTICE TRIAL P 1

Hope College PsychLabs: Mental Rotation Experiment

Your Results

Mean RT in milliseconds

Degrees	0	60	120	180	240	300	Overall
Normal R
Backward R
Overall

Percent Correct

Degrees	0	60	120	180	240	300	Overall
Normal R
Backward R
Overall

Before you move on, copy your results to your data sheet.

Hope College PsychLabs: Mental Rotation Experiment

Finished

This concludes the Mental Rotation Experiment.

Thank you for your participation!

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Hope College PsychLabs: Mental Rotation Experiment