Functional Perspectives in Mental Jigsaw Puzzles: Insights from Eye-tracking, Questionnaire, and Behavioral Data
Tsuyoshi Yoshioka, Hiroyuki Muto, Jun Saiki · 2023
This study investigated cognitive strategies in mental jigsaw puzzles, integrating mental rotation and translation with a focus on directionality and detour arguments. Unlike object mental rotation tasks, these puzzles introduced physical constraints, revealing systematic directionalities in both eye movements and subjective reports, where small male objects were consistently directed toward larger female objects. This was accompanied by longer completion times and reduced linearity, paralleling strategies used in physical puzzle-solving. Behavioral asymmetries observed in the puzzles unexpectedly mirrored those found in object mental rotation tasks. While controlling for mental motion directions showed comparable completion times at 300° between tasks, the study fell short of fully clarifying the role of detours, indicating the need for further research.