Techniques used to Improve Spatial Visualization Skills of Students in Engineering Graphics Course: A Survey <s> C. Combined mental rotation <s> Eighty college students mentally rotated 3-D shapes while maintaining a concurrent verbal or spatial memory load to investigate how sex, native language, and college major relate to the cognitive strategies employed during mental rotation (MR). Males were significantly better than females at MR, whereas native language was not related to MR ability or preferred strategy. A significant Sex × Major × Load interaction was found such that males majoring in the physical sciences performed better when primed by a concurrent spatial load as compared with a no-load or verbal load, suggesting their use of a spatially mediated MR strategy. In contrast, males majoring in the social sciences performed better when primed by a concurrent verbal load as compared with a no-load or spatial load, suggesting their use of a verbal/analytic MR strategy. The potential origins of these differences in strategy are discussed in the context of individual differences in brain organization. <s> BIB001 </s> Techniques used to Improve Spatial Visualization Skills of Students in Engineering Graphics Course: A Survey <s> C. Combined mental rotation <s> In this study we examine how native language, sex, and college major interact to influence accuracy and preferred strategy when performing mental rotation (MR). Native monolingual Chinese and English speakers rotated 3-D shapes while maintaining a concurrent verbal or spatial memory load. For English speakers, male physical science majors were more accurate than social science majors and employed a spatial/holistic strategy; male social science majors used a verbal/analytic strategy. Regardless of college major, English-speaking females were not consistent in MR strategy. A small overall advantage in accuracy was found for Chinese speakers, and both male and female Chinese-speaking physical science majors relied on a combined spatial/holistic and verbal/analytic strategy; Chinese-speaking social science majors did not show a strategy preference. Our results suggest that acquiring a logographic language like Chinese may heighten spatial ability and bias one toward a spatial/holistic MR strategy. <s> BIB002 </s> Techniques used to Improve Spatial Visualization Skills of Students in Engineering Graphics Course: A Survey <s> C. Combined mental rotation <s> The electroencephalogram (EEG) was used to investigate variation in mental rotation (MR) strategies between males and females and different college majors. Beta activation was acquired from 40 participants (10 males and 10 females in physical science; 10 males and 10 females in social science) when performing the Vandenberg and Kuse (1978) mental rotation test (MRT). Males majoring in physical science showed increased activation over the right parietal area when performing the MRT, suggestive of a spatial/holistic strategy, while males majoring in social science showed increased activity over the left frontal region, indicative of a verbal/analytic strategy. Females, regardless of college major, showed bilateral activation, a pattern reflecting the use of a combined verbal/spatial MR strategy. These results provide evidence at the neural level that males and females, as well as physical and social science majors, are biased toward the use of different strategies when performing the MRT. <s> BIB003 </s> Techniques used to Improve Spatial Visualization Skills of Students in Engineering Graphics Course: A Survey <s> C. Combined mental rotation <s> Abstract The contribution of biological sex and cognitive strategy to success at disembedding was investigated in the present study. Forty-two participants were asked to perform the embedded figures and a base-line spatial matching task with their brain activation was concurrently recorded using the electroencephalogram. High performing participants showed increased activation over the left temporal lobe as compared to low performing participants, suggesting the use of a verbally mediated cognitive strategy. Females showed increased activation (relative to males) over the parietal lobe, suggesting the use of a more spatially mediated strategy. In addition, females exhibited higher levels of overall activation during the disembedding process, suggesting the utilization of greater cognitive resources. These brain activation patterns suggest that searching for an embedded figure is somewhat different from other types of spatial and that high and low performing participants, as well as males and females employ different neural strategies for disembedding processing. <s> BIB004
The third type of mental rotation cognitive styles is a combined of holistic and analytic styles. The combined style allows learners to rotate a 3D object mentally by both the left and right hemispheres when rotating the object mentally. In this style, the user can mentally rotate the object with holistic processing and analytical processing based on some features of the object. The later studies by Li BIB001 , BIB002 , BIB003 , BIB004 ,  noticed and concluded that the females are tending and preferring to use the combined strategy or analytical strategy.