Comments on: Can you use mental self rotation to read a map? http://www.sharpbrains.com/blog/2008/08/15/can-you-use-mental-self-rotation-to-read-a-map/ Brain Fitness and Cognitive Health news Fri, 09 Jan 2009 22:01:42 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.5 by: Alvaro Fernandez http://www.sharpbrains.com/blog/2008/08/15/can-you-use-mental-self-rotation-to-read-a-map/#comment-183198 Tue, 02 Sep 2008 16:08:02 +0000 http://www.sharpbrains.com/blog/2008/08/15/can-you-use-mental-self-rotation-to-read-a-map/#comment-183198 Thank you for those comments. Indeed it is a cognitive ability to do mental self rotations. For people who have been exercising that skill all their lives (and therefore become better at it) it looks like second nature now. But it is not one everyone has: the most clear example I can think of: years ago, while traveling in Africa, I tried explaining some adults there what a map is and how to use it to move more efficiently around town. The concept sounded like science fiction to them for a while, until, with rehearsal and practice, they came to understand how to use the map. This is not genetics-it is (formal and informal) education and practice. Thank you for those comments. Indeed it is a cognitive ability to do mental self rotations. For people who have been exercising that skill all their lives (and therefore become better at it) it looks like second nature now. But it is not one everyone has: the most clear example I can think of: years ago, while traveling in Africa, I tried explaining some adults there what a map is and how to use it to move more efficiently around town. The concept sounded like science fiction to them for a while, until, with rehearsal and practice, they came to understand how to use the map.

This is not genetics-it is (formal and informal) education and practice.

]]> by: Dave Odom http://www.sharpbrains.com/blog/2008/08/15/can-you-use-mental-self-rotation-to-read-a-map/#comment-182303 Fri, 29 Aug 2008 16:42:50 +0000 http://www.sharpbrains.com/blog/2008/08/15/can-you-use-mental-self-rotation-to-read-a-map/#comment-182303 As a US Marine I was an artillery forward observer. That meant reading maps, locating targets and adjusting the impact location where the shells fell. Later, to pay for college, I worked as a pilot flying all over the country. Both of these jobs required the turning of maps around in the mind. It never occurred to me that to do so was anything special. As a US Marine I was an artillery forward observer. That meant reading maps, locating targets and adjusting the impact location where the shells fell. Later, to pay for college, I worked as a pilot flying all over the country. Both of these jobs required the turning of maps around in the mind. It never occurred to me that to do so was anything special.

]]> by: C Button http://www.sharpbrains.com/blog/2008/08/15/can-you-use-mental-self-rotation-to-read-a-map/#comment-182182 Fri, 29 Aug 2008 03:03:33 +0000 http://www.sharpbrains.com/blog/2008/08/15/can-you-use-mental-self-rotation-to-read-a-map/#comment-182182 I have done this my entire life and thought that it was something everyone did- does anyone out there ever 'fly,' so to speak above a map to gain locations and directions? Sounds weird but that is the best way to describe how I manage directions. I have done this my entire life and thought that it was something everyone did- does anyone out there ever 'fly,' so to speak above a map to gain locations and directions? Sounds weird but that is the best way to describe how I manage directions.

]]> by: Alvaro Fernandez http://www.sharpbrains.com/blog/2008/08/15/can-you-use-mental-self-rotation-to-read-a-map/#comment-180376 Tue, 19 Aug 2008 20:29:05 +0000 http://www.sharpbrains.com/blog/2008/08/15/can-you-use-mental-self-rotation-to-read-a-map/#comment-180376 Glad to hear. But also funny how the previous comment by "ninja spy" may have anchored/ biased your perception towards the number 7... Glad to hear. But also funny how the previous comment by "ninja spy" may have anchored/ biased your perception towards the number 7...

]]> by: S Quinn http://www.sharpbrains.com/blog/2008/08/15/can-you-use-mental-self-rotation-to-read-a-map/#comment-180358 Tue, 19 Aug 2008 18:35:11 +0000 http://www.sharpbrains.com/blog/2008/08/15/can-you-use-mental-self-rotation-to-read-a-map/#comment-180358 Tried #3 one more time. Yup, I was wrong. Funny how you can't see something then all of a sudden it's clear. There are 6 lefts in diagram 3. Tried #3 one more time. Yup, I was wrong. Funny how you can't see something then all of a sudden it's clear. There are 6 lefts in diagram 3.

]]> by: Alvaro http://www.sharpbrains.com/blog/2008/08/15/can-you-use-mental-self-rotation-to-read-a-map/#comment-180224 Tue, 19 Aug 2008 01:17:12 +0000 http://www.sharpbrains.com/blog/2008/08/15/can-you-use-mental-self-rotation-to-read-a-map/#comment-180224 There are only 6 left turns in diagram 3, as the solution states. You can print the map and do it (and let me know if I am wrong...) There are only 6 left turns in diagram 3, as the solution states. You can print the map and do it (and let me know if I am wrong...)

]]> by: S Quinn http://www.sharpbrains.com/blog/2008/08/15/can-you-use-mental-self-rotation-to-read-a-map/#comment-179909 Sun, 17 Aug 2008 02:05:18 +0000 http://www.sharpbrains.com/blog/2008/08/15/can-you-use-mental-self-rotation-to-read-a-map/#comment-179909 I keep finding 7 lefts in diagram 3. I keep finding 7 lefts in diagram 3.

]]> by: ninja spy http://www.sharpbrains.com/blog/2008/08/15/can-you-use-mental-self-rotation-to-read-a-map/#comment-179750 Sat, 16 Aug 2008 05:32:33 +0000 http://www.sharpbrains.com/blog/2008/08/15/can-you-use-mental-self-rotation-to-read-a-map/#comment-179750 In the Third Diagram Isnt it 7 left??? In the Third Diagram Isnt it 7 left???

]]> by: Brian West http://www.sharpbrains.com/blog/2008/08/15/can-you-use-mental-self-rotation-to-read-a-map/#comment-179739 Sat, 16 Aug 2008 03:51:08 +0000 http://www.sharpbrains.com/blog/2008/08/15/can-you-use-mental-self-rotation-to-read-a-map/#comment-179739 What is mental self rotation? It is the ability to imagine yourself in different locations in space and imagine your body moving in space. What is mental self rotation? It is the ability to imagine yourself in different locations in space and imagine your body moving in space.

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