Mental rotation and fluid intelligence: A brain potential analysis

Vincenzo Varriale, Maurits W. van der Molen and Vilfredo De Pascalis

Intelligence, 2018, vol. 69, issue C, 146-157

Abstract: The current study examined the relation between mental rotation and fluid intelligence using performance measures augmented with brain potential indices. Participants took a Raven's Progressive Matrices Test and performed on a mental rotation task presenting upright and rotated letter stimuli (60°, 120° or 180°) in normal and mirror image requiring a response execution or inhibition depending on instructions. The performance results showed that the linear slope relating performance accuracy, but not speed, to the angular rotation of the stimuli was related to individual differences in fluid intelligence. For upright stimuli, P3 amplitude recorded at frontal and central areas was positively associated with fluid intelligence scores. The mental rotation process was related to a negative shift of the brain potential recorded over the parietal cortex. The linear function relating the amplitude of the rotation-related negativity to rotation angle was associated with fluid intelligence. The slope was more pronounced for high- relative to low-ability participants suggesting that the former flexibly adjust their expenditure of mental effort to the mental rotation demands while the latter ones are less proficient in doing so.

Keywords: Intelligence; Mental Rotation; EEG; RRN; RT (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160289618300011
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:intell:v:69:y:2018:i:c:p:146-157

DOI: 10.1016/j.intell.2018.05.007

Access Statistics for this article

Intelligence is currently edited by R.J. Haier

More articles in Intelligence from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().