Mental Rotation Essay

A previous research study by Angelica Moe (2009) shows that males do better than females in the Mental Rotation Test for strategic, biological and cultural reasons. The present research’s hypothesis was that females could do better when they are led to believe that they are capable and confident enough to solve the task. The stereotype threat theory followed by (Spencer, Steele & Quinn, 1999) suggested that women can do worse in certain spatial tasks such as MRT then men, because they think they are less capable in performing this type of task. However, if they were led to believe they are capable and have enough confident their performance could improve. To examine this study Moe explored two kinds of beliefs that would lead females to do better in the MRT. The

Each group were instructed on the level of the task (easy vs. difficult). Past research argued that females are more likely to be influenced to gender stereotypes in the presence of males (Inzlicht & Ben-Zeev, 2000). Even when males are in the minority, they are unaffected by the gender stereotype. Therefore, the participants were tested in the same gender to avoid effects due to context. An explanation into the hypothesis is that females’ performance can improve in the MRT if they are motivated and have the capability to think they are better than males. Moe’s study showed a significant effect due to gender, the difference between before and after instructions were given was significant for males being told they are better. Females performed worse than men in the controlled condition when they were told that men are better. The instructions given affected the females’ performance when told men are better, no matter if the task was easy or difficult. On the other hand, males performed better when believing to be more able then females’ when expecting an easy task or, in the control condition. (Dweck, 1999) suggested that beliefs about one’s abilities are supposed to effect individuals cognitive