Alternative Strategies in Processing 3D Objects Diagrams: Static, Animated and Interactive Presentation of a Mental Rotation Test in an Eye Movements Cued Retrospective Study

Spatial abilities involved in reasoning with diagrams have been assessed using tests supposed to require mental rotation (cube figures of the Vandenberg & Kruse). However, Hegarty (2010) described alternative strategies: Mental rotation is not always used; analytical strategies can be used instead. In this study, we compared three groups of participants in three external formats of presentation of the referent figure in the Vandenberg & Kruse test: static, animated, interactive. During the test, participants were eye tracked. After the test, they were interrogated on their strategies for each item during the viewing of the replay of their own eye movement in a cued retrospective verbal protocol session. Results showed participants used varied strategies, part of them similar to those shown by Hegarty. Presentation format influenced significantly the strategy. Participants with high performance at the test used more mental rotation. Participants with lower performance tended to use more analytical strategies than mental rotation.