Movement orientation is related to mental rotation in childhood.

The present study asked whether the ability to mentally rotate animal pictures was associated with orientation errors of aiming movements in 7- to 10-year-old children and adults. Mental rotation involves a mental change of the encoded picture's orientation, and one has to determine movement vector orientation in motor programming. In the children, slower rotations were related to higher absolute orientation errors, and less correct responses with movements rightward of the target. No significant correlations were found in adults. This result suggests that in children, motor control and mental rotation may be related through orientation specification processes.