Does mental rotation require central mechanisms?

Abstract

Four reaction time experiments examined the mental rotation process using a psychological refractory period paradigm. On each trial, participants made speeded responses to both a tone (S1) and a rotated letter (S2), presented with varying stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs). If mental rotation of the stimulus letter can proceed while central mechanisms are busy with S1, then the effect of orientation should decrease substantially with decreasing SOA. Contrary to these predictions, the effect of orientation was nearly constant across SOAs, suggesting that mental rotation cannot effectively proceed without help from central mechanisms. These results support the conclusion that mental rotation requires access to a single-channel mechanism and must therefore be performed serially with other operations requiring the same mechanism.