Petra Jansen *, Corinna Titze ** and Martin Heil **
(*) Institute of Sport Science, University of Regensburg, Germany
(**) Experimental Psychology, Duesseldorf, Germany
Citation
Jansen, P., Titze, C., Heil, M. (2009). The influence of juggling on mental rotation performance. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 40(2), 351-359.
Abstract
This study investigated the influence of juggling training on mental rotation performance. Two groups of 23 participants each solved a chronometrical mental rotation task with three-dimensional block figures. After this, participants of the training group learned to juggle over a period of three months, whereas participants of the non-training group did not. At the end of the three-month period all participants solved the mental rotation task again. The difference between the reaction time (RT) in the first and second mental rotation test was measured. Results showed that the RT gain was higher for the participants of the training group compared to the non-training group when mental rotation had to be performed (i.e., when angular disparity was non-zero). This study provides evidence for the direct relation between motor training and spatial ability.
Keywords: Juggling, Mental rotation, Motor behavior, Spatial performance