فصلنامه روانشناسی شناختی

 
The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of gymnastics training, as a motor activity, on the mental rotation. This Study was carried out considering an experimental group, students of physical education practicing gymnastics training, and a control group, students of the other majors of the faculty of humanities in each group there were 40 students, 20 males and 20 females. First, the two groups took the mental rotation test of Peters et al (1995), and then the experimental group has undergone gymnastics training for 9 weeks. After the training sessions, both groups were tested again. To examine the differences in pre-test and post-test scores of the two groups, one way analysis of covariance was used, and to examine the differences of mental rotation between the two groups in pre-test scores, T test was used. The findings showed significant difference in the scores of the post- test compared to those of the pre-test, and it was shown in the experimental group. The difference between the scores of the students of physical education and the scores of the students of other majors of the faculty of humanities was significant to the benefit of the students of physical education. Furthermore, between the scores of the girls and boys in the mental rotation, significant difference was observed to the benefit of boys. In the present study, the effect of the gymnastics training program on the ability of mental rotation was concluded and this conclusion showed the effects of the program of motor intervention on the spatial and cognitive abilities