Mental rotation and object-spatial-verbal cognitive stiles Rotación mental y estilo cognitivo objetual , espacial y verbal

The aim of this study was to assess correlations between the Measure of the Ability to Rotate Mental Images (MARMI, Campos, 2012), an innovative mental imagery rotation test, and each of the three scales of the ObjectSpatial Imagery and Verbal Questionnaire (OSIVQ, Blazhenkova & Kozhevnikov, 2009).). Tests were administered to 203 undergraduates, and the MARMI was significantly correlated with the Spatial Imagery Scale of the OSIVQ (r = .42). Weak correlations were found for the MARMI with Object Imagery (r = -.02), and the Verbal Scales (r = -.10). We obtained significant differences between the mean scores of the three scales of the OSIVQ. The highest score was on the object scale, and the lowest score was on the verbal scale. The results are discussed.

Similarly, cognitive and neuropsychology studies (Kosslyn, 1994;Kosslyn & Koenig, 1992) have shown that imagery is not unitary, and at least two types of imagery have been distinguished i.e., object imagery, and spatial imagery.Object imagery refers to the form, colour, shape, and size of objects whereas spatial imagery refers to spatial relations among objects, locations of objects in space, movements of objects, and spatial transformations (Blajenkova et al., 2006).
There are different ways of processing information.People who study science have higher scores on spatial ability than people who study visual arts.Visual artists scored higher than scientists on tests that measure object imagery: shape, brightness, colour, and so on.People who work as painting or sculpting have special abilities on object imagery, however, the physicists, engineers and architects have higher spatial abilities than the average of population (Kozhevnikov, Blazhenkova, & Becker, 2010;Kozhevnikov, Kosslyn, & Shepard, 2005;Motes, Malach, & Kozhevnikov, 2008).
As the Measure of the Ability to Rotate Mental Images (MARMI, Campos, 2012) is a new test, we must know how the test correlates with other test, so the aim of this study was to assess the correlations between the Measure of the Ability to Rotate Mental Images (MARMI) and each of the three scales of the Object-Spatial Imagery and Verbal Questionnaire (OSIVQ), in order to gauge the efficacy of the MARMI.We also assessed differences in the types of mental imagery (cognitive styles: object imagery, spatial imagery, or verbal processing) usually used by psychology students.

Method Participants
A total of 203 undergraduates, students of psychology (155 women and 48 men; mean age 19.80, SD = 1.35, age range 19 to 27 years) volunteered to participate in the study.

Materials
The Measure of the Ability to Rotate Mental Images (MARMI) consists of 23 items that measure the ability to rotate mental imagery.The test consists of an unfolded cube that participants have to mentally reassemble and rotate prior to responding to the items on the questionnaire.Each item has four options, two true and two false.Total scores were obtained by adding the correct options and subtracting the false ones.Test completion was limited to 10 minutes.Campos (2012) obtained a Cronbach α of .90.
The Object-Spatial Imagery and Verbal Questionnaire (OSIVQ) is a questionnaire consisting of 45 items, 15 for each of the three scales: the object, spatial, and verbal imagery scales.Each item is scored on a 5-point Likert type scale where 5 indicated "absolutely agree that the statement describe you", and 1 indicated "total disagreement with the statement."The questionnaire has no completion time limit, and Campos and Pérez-Fabello (2011a) obtained Cronbach alphas of .77,.81,and .72 for the Object imagery, Spatial imagery, and Verbal scales, respectively.

Procedure
In groups of approximately 20, participants were administered the Measure of the Ability to Rotate Mental Images (MARMI; Campos, 2012), and the Spanish version (Campos & Pérez-Fabello, 2011a) of the Object-Spatial Imagery and Verbal Questionnaire (OSIVQ; Blazhenkova & Kozhevnikov, 2009).The order of test administration was juxtaposed.All of the undergraduates participated voluntarily in the study and were assured their data would remain anonymous and confidential.
In order to determine significant differences between scales, a Repeated Measures Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was performed, and we obtained significant differences between the mean scores of the tree scales of the OSIVQ, F(1, 190) = 269.66,p < .001,η2p = .59,power = 1.The results of the Least Significant Difference test showed significant differences (p < .001) between the Object Scale (M = 3.69, SD = .50)and the Spatial Scale (M = 2.39, SD = .60),between Object Scale and the Verbal Scale (M = 2.85, SD = .48),and between Spatial Scale and Verbal Scale.

Discussion
The Measure of the Ability to Rotate Mental Images (MARMI) significantly correlated (.42) with Spatial Scale of the OSIVQ (Table 1), regardless of the spatial imagery was measured by a questionnaire, and mental rotation was measured by a performance test.High correlations have also been found between spatial imagery and imagery rotation (Blazhenkova & Kozhevnikov, 2009;Burton, & Fogarty, 2003;Campos, 2009).A weak negative correlation was observed for the MARMI with the Object Scale, and the Verbal Scale, a result that corroborated the findings of previous studies that have correlated image rotation tests with image questionnaires, and verbal scales (Blajenkova et al., 2006;Burton & Fogarty, 2003;Campos, 1998Campos, , 2012;;Campos & Pérez-Fabello, 2011b).The verbal scale and image scale were constructed as opposed (see Paivio, 1971, for a review), and imagery rotation and verbal scale are also opposed.Moreover, the results support the findings of other studies indicating that mental imagery is not unitary Kosslyn (1994), and Kosslyn and Koenig (1992).

Table 1
. Further research is required to assess the MARMI in samples of different age cohorts, and to correlate the MARMI with other measures of imagery.Also, further studies are required to assess the image commonly used by individuals of different age and professions Means and Standard Deviations, and Correlations of the MARMI with Scales of the OSIVQ * p < .01