Ability of architecture students to rotate urban maps

• Main Authors: Diego Campos-Juanatey, Santiago Tarrio, Jesús Ángel Dopico, Alfredo Campos
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidad de A Coruña 2017-12-01
• Series: Revista de Estudios e Investigación en Psicología y Educación
• Subjects: arquitectura; imagen mental; rotación mental; imagen; estudios de empresa
• Online Access: http://revistas.udc.es/index.php/reipe/article/view/3110

Training in mental imagery during education enhances the ability in forming images and increases the performance on tasks involving mental images. In this research we assessed whether the type of undergraduate studies (Architecture or Business Studies) and the ability in rotating mental images influenced the rotation of urban maps. We selected a group of 208 university students of Architecture and Business studies, who completed a task consisting on the evaluation of 90 pairs of urban maps, deciding if their position was equal or symmetrical. The number of correct choices, errors, and correct choices minus errors were measured. It was found that both the type of study and the skills in rotating images influenced the number of correct choices (without counting errors) and the correct rotation numbers (correct choices minus errors). The ability in rotating mental images also influenced the number of errors in the rotation of urban maps