Mental rotation depends on the number of objects rather than on the number of image fragments.
It is often intuitively assumed that disconnected image fragments result in a representation of separate objects. When objects are partly occluded, disconnected image fragments can still result in a representation of a single object, based on visual completion. In a simultaneous matching task, displays showing one object, partly occluded objects, or two objects were compared with each other. When only a translation was required to match pairs of displays, one-object displays were matched faster than both occluded-object and two-object displays, which did not differ significantly from each other. When mental rotation and translation were required, the one-object displays were again matched the fastest. In addition, an advantage for occluded-object displays compared with two-object displays was found. We conclude that when the generation of a mental representation is likely, object-based connectedness determines object matching. Mental rotation then seems to depend on the number of objects rather than on the number of image fragments.
Koning
Arno
A
NICI-University of Nijmegen, 6500 HE Nijmegen, The Netherlands. a.koning@nici.kun.nl
van Lier
Rob
R
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003867:Depth Perception; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007092:Imagination; D008297:Male; D009903:Optical Illusions; D009949:Orientation; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D010466:Perceptual Closure; D010470:Perceptual Masking; D011340:Problem Solving; D011601:Psychophysics