Mental rotation and mirror-image discrimination.
Two experiments involving judgments of same-different were conducted to assess conditions in which mental rotation is used. These two experiments were similar except in the way "different" pairs were constructed. In the first experiment, a "different" pair involved two different polygons; in the second one, a "different" pair involved one polygon and its mirror-image. The strategy used by the 8 subjects was investigated through patterns of reaction times. The first experiment exhibited a flat function of reaction times with orientation, whereas the second one exhibited a linear increase in reaction times with angular departure from upright. These results lead to the conclusion that mental rotation is used when a figure has to be distinguished from its mirror-image.
Pierret
A
A
Laboratoire de Recherche sur les Signaux et Processus Cérébraux, Lyon, France.
Peronnet
F
F
D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007092:Imagination; D008297:Male; D009949:Orientation; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D011930:Reaction Time