Information processing style used by Compulsory Secondary Education students

Abstract

Mental images are mental representations of people, objects and situations that are not present and are formed by using the imagination. Many studies have addressed this psychological ability, its typology and its involvement in the academic environment. Along these lines, the aim of our study was to assess the information processing style (verbal, object, spatial scales, and mental rotation) that is commonly used by students from different specialties of Compulsory Secondary Education. To that end, two tests: The Mental Rotation Test (MRT) and the Object-Spatial Imagery and Verbal Questionnaire (OSIVQ) were administered to a sample of 126 Compulsory Secondary Education students. MRT assessed any significant difference in the ability to mentally rotate images depending on gender and specialty. Significant differences were found by specialty, showing that science students had better ability to mentally rotate images than humanities ones. Significant differences were found by gender and specialty in the OSIVQ. Men showed better spatial and verbal processing style than women, and humanities students excelled in object processing (in comparison to science students) and in verbal processing (in comparison to science and art students).

Keywords

• imagen mental
• imágenes
• rotación mental
• procesos cognitivos