An Event-Related Potentials Study of Mental Rotation in Identifying Chemical Structural Formulas
The purpose of this study was to investigate how mental rotation strategies affect the identification of chemical structural formulas. This study cond.
- Pub. date: January 15, 2012
- Pages: 37-54
- 1460 Downloads
- 1865 Views
- 10 Citations
The purpose of this study was to investigate how mental rotation strategies affect the identification of chemical structural formulas. This study conducted event-related potentials (ERPs) experiments. In addition to the data collected in the ERPs, a Chemical Structure Conceptual Questionnaire and interviews were also administered for data collection. Eighteen university students majoring in chemistry were recruited. In the ERP experiments, the participants were required to identify 2D figures, 2D chemical structural formulas, 3D objects and 3D chemical structural formulas. The contours of 2D figures are similar to those of 2D chemical structural formulas, but they contain no content knowledge. Likewise, the contours of 3D objects are similar to 3D chemical structural formulas without content knowledge. The results showed that all students used similar strategies of mental rotation in identifying 2D figures, 3D objects and 3D chemical structural formulas. However, the high-achieving students used different strategies in identifying 2D figures and chemical structural formulas, while the low-achieving students tended to use similar strategies of mental rotation in identifying both 2D figures and chemical structural formulas. The results indicate that some of the difficulties in identifying 2D chemical structural formulas that students encounter are due to their inappropriate strategies of mental rotation.
chemical structural formulas event related potentials mental rotation rotation related negativity
Keywords: Chemical structural formulas, event-related potentials, mental rotation, rotation-related negativity
10
References
Alivisatos, B., & Petrides, M. (1997). Functional activation of the human brain during mental rotation. Neuropsychologia, 35, 111-118.
Boo, H. K. (1998). Students’ understanding of chemical bonds and the energetic of chemical reactions. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 35, 569–581.
Bragh, J. A., & Ferguson, M. J. (2000). Beyond Behaviorism: on the automaticity of higher mental processes. Psychological Bulletin, 126(6), 925-945.
Butts, B., & Smith, R. (1987). HSC chemistry students’ understanding of the structure and properties of molecular and ionic compounds. Research in Science Education, 17, 192–201.
Chiu, M.-H., & Fu, H.-W. (1993). Molecular kits and problem solving in stereochemistry. Chinese Journal of Science Education, 1(2), 161-188.
Cicconetti, P., Ciotti, V., Tafaro, L., Ettorre, E., Chiarotti, F., Priami, C., Cacciafesta, M., & Marigliano, V. (2007). Evenr related brain potentials in elderly patients with recently diagnosed isolated systolic hypertension. Clinical Neurophysiology, 118, 824-32.
Cohen, M. S., Kosslyn, S. M., Breiter, H. C., DiGorolamo, G. J., Thompson, W. L., Anderson, A. K., Bookheimer, S. Y., Rosen, B. R., & Belliveau, J. W. (1996). Changes in cortical activity during mental rotation: A mapping study using functional MRI. Brain, 199, 89-100.
Coles, M. G. H., & Rugg, M. D. (1995). Event-related brain potentials: an introduction. In M.
D. Rugg & M. G. H. Coles (Eds.), Electrophysiology of mind: Event-related brain potentials and cognition (pp. 1-26). New York: Oxford University Press.
Cooper, L. A., & Shepard, R. N. (1973). Chronometric studies of the rotation of mental images. In W. G. Chase (Ed.), Visual information processing (pp. 75-176). New York: Academic Press.
Frailich, M., Kesner, M., & Hofstein, A. (2009). Enhancing students’ understanding of the concept of “chemical bonding” by using activities provided on an interactive website. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 46(3), 289-310.
Gilbert, J. K. (2008). Visualization: An emergent field of practice and enquiry in science education. In J. K. Gilbert, M. Reiner, & M. Nakhleh (Eds.), Visualization: Theory and practice in science education, pp. 3-24. Dordrecht: springer.
Gilbert, J. K., & Treagust, D. (2009). Multiple representations in chemical education. Dordrecht: Springer.
Gilbert, J. K., Reiner, M., & Nakhleh, M. (2008). Visualization theory and practice in science education. Dordrecht: Springer.
Hegarty, M. (2004). Diagrams in the mind and in the world: Relations between internal and external visualizations. In A. Blackwell, K. Mariott, & A. Shimojima (Eds.), Diagrammatic representation and inference. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.
Heil, M., & Rolke, B. (2002). Toward a chronopsychophysiology of mental rotation. Psychophysiology, 39, 414-422
Heil, M., Rauch, M., & Hennighausen, E. (1998). Response preparation begins before mental rotation is finished: evidence from event-related brain potentials. Acta Psychologica, 99, 217-232.
Ho, M.-C., Chou, C.-Y., Huang,C.-F., Lin, Y.-T., Shih, C.-S., Han, S.-Y., Shen, M.-H., Chen, T.-C., Liang, C.-L., Lu, M.-C., & Liu, C.-J. (2012). Age-related changes of task-specific brain activity in normal aging. Neuroscience Letters, 507, 78-83.
Juckel, G., Clotz, F., Frodl, T., Kawohl, W., Hampel, H., Pogarell, O., & Hegerl, U. (2008). Diagnostic usefulness of cognitive auditory event-related P300 subcomponents in patients with Alzheimers disease? Journal of Clinical Neurophysiology, 25(3), 147-52.
Kelley, T. L. (1939) The selection of upper and lower groups for the validation of test item, Educational Psychology, 30, pp. 17-24.
Korakakis, G., Pavlatou, E. A., Palyvos, J. A., & Spyrellis, N. (2009). 3D visualization types in multimedia applications for science learning: a case study for 8th grade students in
Greece. Computers & Education, 52, 390-401.Lai, C.–L., Lin, R.–T., Liou, L.–M., & Liu, C.–K. (2010). The role of event-related potentials in cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s disease. Clinical Neurophysiology, 121, 194-99.
Larkin, J. H., McDermott, J., Simon, D. P., & Simon, H. A. (1980). Expert and novice performance in solving physics problems. Science, 208(4450), 1335e1342.
Liu, C. J., Huang, C. F., & Chou, C. Y. (2010, June). An Event-Related Potential Study with Two Dimension (2D) Tasks on Mental Rotation. 16th Annual Meeting of the Organization for Human Brain Mapping, Barcelona, Spain.
Mathewson, J. (1999). Visual-spatial thinking: an aspect of science overlooked by educators. Scienc Education, 83(1), 33-54.
Mayer, T. (2001). Multimedia learning. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Milivojevic, B., Johnson, B. W., Hamm, J. P., & Corballis, M. C. (2003). Non-identical neural mechanisms for two types of mental transformation: event-related potentials during mental rotation and mental paper folding. Neuropsychologia, 41, 1345-1356.
Moè, A. (2009). Are males always better than females in mental rotation? Exploring a gender belief explanation. Learning and Individual Differences, 19, 21-27.
Muthukumaraswamy, S. D., Johnson, B. W., & Hamm, J. P. (2003). A high density ERP comparison of mental rotation and mental size transformation. Brain and Cognition, 52, 271-280.
Núñez-Peña, M. I., & Aznar-Casanova, J. A. (2009). Mental rotation of mirrored letters: evidence from event-related brain potentials. Brain and Cognition, 69, 180-187.
Özmen, H. (2004). Some student misconceptions in chemistry: a literature review of chemical bonding. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 13(2), 147-159.
Pegna, A. J., Khateb, A., Spinelli, L., Margitta, S., Landis, T., & Michel, C. M. (1997). Unraveling the cerebral dynamics of mental imagery. Human Brain Mapping, 5, 410-421.
Peronnet, F., & Farah, M. J. (1989). Mental rotation: an event-related potential study with a validated mental rotation task. Brain and Cognition, 9, 279-288.
Rieĉanský, I., & Jagla, F. (2008). Linking performance with brain potentials: Mental rotation-related negativity revisited. Neuropsychologia, 46, 3069-3073.
Seddon, G. M., & Eniaiyeju, P. A. (1986). The understanding of pictorial depth cues, and the ability to visualize the rotation of three-dimensional structural formulas in diagrams. Research in Science and Technological Education, 4(1), 29-37.
Shubbar, K. E. (1990). Learning the visualization of rotations in diagrams of three-dimensional structural formulas. Research in Science and Technological Education, 8(2), 145-153.
Sokel, R. R., & Rolf, F. J. (1981). Biometry. NY: W. H. Freeman and Co.
Stevens, S. Y., Delgado, C., & Krajcik, J. (2010). Developing a hypothetical multi-dimensional learning progression for the nature of matter. Journal of Research in Science Teaching 47(6), 687-715.
Stieff, M. (2007). Mental rotation and diagrammatic reasoning in science. Learning and Instruction, 17(2), 219-234.
Tsaparlis G., Kolioulis D., & Pappa E. (2010). Lower-secondary introductory chemistry course: a novel approach based on science-education theories, with emphasis on the
macroscopic approach, and the delayed meaningful teaching of the concepts of molecule and atom. Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 11, 107-117.
Wang, Y., Chiew, V., & Zhong, N. (2010). On the cognitive process of human problem solving. Cognitive Systems Research, 11, 81-92.
Wiedenbauer, G., Schmid, J., & Jansen-Osmann, P. (2007). Maunal training of mental rotation. European Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 19(1), 17-36.
Wu, H. K., & Shah, P. (2004). Exploring visuospatial thinking in chemistry learning. Science Education, 88(3), 465-492.
Wu, H. K., Krajcik, J. S., & Soloway, E. (2001). Promoting conceptual understanding of chemical representations: students’ use of a visualization tool in the classroom. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 38, 821-842.