In this study, we experimentally investigated the influence ofa three-dimensional (3D) graphic image and a 3D-printed ob-ject on a spatial reasoning task in which participants were re-quired to infer cross sections of a liver in a situation where liverresection surgery was presupposed. The results of the studyindicated that using a 3D-printed object produced more accu-rate task performance and faster mental model construction ofa liver structure than a 3D image. During the task, using a3D-printed object was assumed to reduce cognitive load andinformation accessing cost more than using a 3D image.
