Biomaterial Database

Mental rotation and mirror-image discrimination. 1994

A Pierret, and F Peronnet

Laboratoire de Recherche sur les Signaux et Processus Cérébraux, Lyon, France.

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.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007092	Imagination	A new pattern of perceptual or ideational material derived from past experience.	Imaginations
D008297	Male		Males
D009949	Orientation	Awareness of oneself in relation to time, place and person.	Cognitive Orientation,Mental Orientation,Psychological Orientation,Cognitive Orientations,Mental Orientations,Orientation, Cognitive,Orientation, Mental,Orientation, Psychological,Orientations,Orientations, Cognitive,Orientations, Mental,Orientations, Psychological,Psychological Orientations
D010364	Pattern Recognition, Visual	Mental process to visually perceive a critical number of facts (the pattern), such as characters, shapes, displays, or designs.	Recognition, Visual Pattern,Visual Pattern Recognition
D011597	Psychomotor Performance	The coordination of a sensory or ideational (cognitive) process and a motor activity.	Perceptual Motor Performance,Sensory Motor Performance,Visual Motor Coordination,Coordination, Visual Motor,Coordinations, Visual Motor,Motor Coordination, Visual,Motor Coordinations, Visual,Motor Performance, Perceptual,Motor Performance, Sensory,Motor Performances, Perceptual,Motor Performances, Sensory,Perceptual Motor Performances,Performance, Perceptual Motor,Performance, Psychomotor,Performance, Sensory Motor,Performances, Perceptual Motor,Performances, Psychomotor,Performances, Sensory Motor,Psychomotor Performances,Sensory Motor Performances,Visual Motor Coordinations
D011930	Reaction Time	The time from the onset of a stimulus until a response is observed.	Response Latency,Response Speed,Response Time,Latency, Response,Reaction Times,Response Latencies,Response Times,Speed, Response,Speeds, Response
D004193	Discrimination Learning	Learning that is manifested in the ability to respond differentially to various stimuli.	Discriminative Learning,Discrimination Learnings,Discriminative Learnings,Learning, Discrimination,Learning, Discriminative
D005260	Female		Females
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000328	Adult	A person having attained full growth or maturity. Adults are of 19 through 44 years of age. For a person between 19 and 24 years of age, YOUNG ADULT is available.	Adults