Det finns individuella skillnader i människors medvetenhet om var de befinner sig och om hur deras omgivningar ser ut, särskilt efter att de har förflyttat sig. För att beskriva detta används allmänt begreppet lokalsinne, som kan definieras: ”förmågan att orientera sig och hitta rätt”. Studiens syfte var att undersöka om det finns samband mellan hur människor skattar sitt lokalsinne och deras faktiska förmåga att bearbeta visuell information. Trettiosju deltagare genomförde självskattning av lokalsinne, ett test som mätte kapacitet i visuo-spatialt arbetsminne och ett test som mätte mental rotationsförmåga. Resultaten från studien visar att mental rotationsförmåga har samband med i självskattat lokalsinne och kapaciteten i visuo-spatialt arbetsminne. Av det här drogs slutsatsen att mental rotationsförmåga är en integrerad del av individers navigationsförmåga. / There are individual differences in people's awareness of where they are and what their surroundings look like, especially after they have physically moved around in their surroundings.To describe this, the concept sense of direction is generally used, which can be defined as: "the ability to orient oneself and find the right way". The purpose of this study was to investigate whether there is a relationship between how people estimate their sense of location and their actual ability to process visual information. Thirty-seven participants completed self-assessment of local sense, a test measuring capacity in visuo-spatial working memory and a test measuring mental rotation ability. The results of the study show that mental rotation ability is related to self-rated local sense and visuo-spatial working memory capacity. From this it was concluded that mental rotation ability is an integral part of individuals' navigation ability.

In adults, sex and steroid hormone differences have been observed in several cognitive domains, most notably in the domains of spatial processing, language, and manual dexterity. Age-related cognitive differences have also been observed throughout the lifespan, with many improvements occurring during childhood. While cognition improves with age, other factors (i.e., sex, pubertal status, and steroid hormone levels) may also influence development. The present study compared performance on a visuo-spatial working memory (VSWM) task and three simple articulation (ART) tasks. Pubertal status and hormone levels, at time of testing, were measured. Sex, pubertal status, and hormone differences were observed. This study is one of the first to provide evidence of such differences in typically developing adolescents.