Mental Rotation in Artists and Non-artists

This research was conducted to compare visuospatial skills in male and female artists and non-artists. Twenty artists (10 males and 10 females) and 20 non-artists (10 males and 10 females) were tested for accuracy and reaction time in a lateralized three-dimensional mental rotation task. Males had significantly fewer errors than females, which is consistent with previous research, but this main effect for gender was not found for reaction time. Findings did not support the hypotheses that artists are more skilled in visuospatial tasks, have a smaller gender difference in mental rotation ability, and have a different pattern of lateralization for mental rotation than non-artists.