Mental rotation (MR) is crucial for object recognition and visuo-spatial prediction. Recent studies suggest a strong interplay between mental rotation and motor abilities during infancy (e.g., Schwarzer et al., 2022). While the development of mental rotation has been studied between the ages of 3 to 6 (Frick et al., 2013), limited research has explored the relationship between this ability and locomotion within this age group. To address this research gap, our ongoing study with 4 to 6-year-olds aims to understand the development of the relationship between motor skills and mental rotation beyond infancy.

To assess mental rotation abilities, we developed a novel MR Block task that consisted of two Shepard-Metzler objects (mirrored to each other) and two 3D boxes with corresponding cut-outs of the objects. The task involves presenting the two objects in different orientations (along X or Y axes) and various rotation angles (0 to 180 degrees), and one 3D box in which only one of the objects fits. Each child is asked (i) to point at the object that would fit into the box (perception) and (ii) to grasp and fit the object into the box (action). Motor skills are assessed using LoMo (Jascenoka & Petermann, 2018).

Preliminary data suggest that 6-year-olds exhibit greater accuracy in total responses for both parts of the MR task compared to 4-year-olds (t(31)=-2.593, p<0.05). There appears to be a positive correlation (r=0.492, p=0.105) between motor skills and the perception part of the MR task in older children, highlighting their interdependence beyond infancy.