A LARGE SEX DIFFERENCE ON A 2-DIMENSIONAL MENTAL ROTATION TASK

Mental rotation tests require participants to identify rotated version s of a target stimulus. The Vandenberg Mental Rotations Test depicts p otations in 3-D space and typically yields one of the largest establis hed cognitive sex differences favoring males. It is presently unclear whether this male advantage is related to the nature of rotations depi cted in 3-D space or to the high level of difficulty of this task. The present study developed a new test depicting picture plane, or 2-D, r otations. When task difficulty within this 2-D rest was varied, a male advantage as large as that seen on the Vandenberg test was found for the difficult component. These findings suggest that processing in 3 d imensions is not a necessary condition for a large sex difference on t ests of mental rotation.