Abstract: Studies on spatial reasoning can promote the understanding of its processing mechanism and the testing of the theories of reasoning. Results of behavioral studies have indicated that many factors affect the processing of reasoning. These factors include numbers of mental model, the order of premise terms, and so on. Outcomes of behavioral researches have proved the validity of the mental model theory. Brain-imaging studies show that spatial reasoning problems elicit occipital–parietal–frontal network. The parietal cortex is possibly specific to spatial reasoning. Results of brain-imaging studies also agree with the mental model theory. The studies in the future should integrate the three theories of reasoning, strengthen studies of other deductions, and combine EEG or ERP with brain-imaging techniques, so that we can understand much more about the mechanism of spatial reasoning.

Key words: spatial reasoning, Mental model theory, Mental logic theory, fMRI, PET