Abstract
In this study, individuals with different motor expertise levels interacted with both heavy and light objects to learn about their respective physical affordance before solving a mental rotation task involving images of the same objects. All participants reported that heavy objects were more difficult to physically rotate than light objects, yet only elite athletes mentally rotated heavy objects more slowly than light ones, suggesting that they used covert motor strategies to perform the latter task. To confirm this hypothesis, a different sample of participants solved the same mental rotation task in a second experiment, this time using an imposed motor strategy. Consistent with our prediction, all groups were equally affected by objects’ physical affordance, regardless of individual levels of sensorimotor expertise. Together, these results indicate that sensorimotor expertise transfers to mental rotation tasks and provide a more detailed account of the individual differences associated with levels of expertise.
