Elsevier

Cognitive Psychology

Volume 7, Issue 1, January 1975, Pages 20-43
Cognitive Psychology

Mental rotation of random two-dimensional shapes,☆☆

https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0285(75)90003-1Get rights and content

Abstract

Two experiments are reported in which Ss were required to determine whether a random, angular form, presented at any of a number of picture-plane orientations, was a “standard” or “reflected” version. Average time required to make this determination increased linearly with the angular departure of the form from a previously learned orientation. The slope and intercept of the reaction-time (RT) function were virtually constant, regardless of the perceptual complexity of the test form and the orientation selected for initial learning.

When Ss were informed in advance as to the identity and the orientation of the upcoming test form and, further, were permitted to indicate when they were prepared for its external presentation, RT for determining the version of the form was constant for all test-form orientations. However, the time needed to prepare for the test-form presentation increased linearly with the angular departure of the form from the learned orientation.

It is argued that the processes both of preparing for and of responding to a disoriented test form consist of the mental rotation of an image, and that both sorts of mental rotation (pre-stimulus and post-stimulus) are carried out at essentially the same constant rate.

References (24)

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      This result should not be taken to indicate that our participants lacked the ability to perceive sense differences in rotated 2-dimensional drawings. Indeed, this ability has been repeatedly documented in adults, children and even infants (e.g. Cooper, 1975; Kosslyn et al., 1990; Krüger, 2018; Lauer et al., 2015). The tasks employed in this previous research differed from our task in several respects, potentially explaining the difference in performance (see general discussion).

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      However, Stieff et al. (2018) showed that this order changes when accuracy is considered, instead of reaction time: Rotation in the picture plane – that is, a rotation around an axis perpendicular to the picture plane – was more accurate than any rotation in depth, that is, a rotation around an axis not perpendicular to the picture plane. Other task characteristics of interest include stimulus complexity (e.g., Cooper, 1975; Heil & Jansen-Osmann, 2008; Stieff, 2007; Stieff et al., 2018) and the participant's familiarity with the type of stimulus (e.g., Doyle & Voyer, 2018; Muto & Nagai, 2020; Stieff, 2007). Another characteristic affecting performance that is not intrinsic to the stimuli, is the application of a time limit, as is commonly applied in the Vandenberg and Kuse paradigm: Shorter time limits lead to weaker performance (Peters, 2005).

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    This report is based on a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the Ph.D. degree at Stanford University.

    ☆☆

    This research was supported by National Science Foundation Grant GB-31971X to Roger N. Shepard.

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