# A New Procedure and Stimulus Set for Examining Cross-Modality Mental Rotation

## TL;DR

This study introduces a new method using 3-D printed shapes to test how people mentally rotate objects across vision and touch.

## Contribution

The study validates a new procedure using 3-D printed shapes for cross-modality mental rotation research.

## Key findings

- Response time and error rate increased linearly with angular disparity of the 3-D shapes.
- The method uses freely available data and stimuli for future mental rotation studies.

## Abstract

We validated the use of 3-D printed Shepard and Metzler-style shapes in a simultaneous cross-modal (vision & touch) mental rotation procedure. Participants compared a visually presented 3-D shape to a 3-D shape they could only feel to determine if the shapes were the same. Participant response time and error rate demonstrated the expected linear increase as the angular disparity of the 3-D printed shapes increased. We expect the freely available data and stimuli from the procedure will be useful to researchers studying both traditional mental rotation and cross-modality mental rotation with complex, highly adaptable, and easy to create shapes.