Abstract
Average time required to determine whether an alphanumeric character was presented in its normal version or as its mirror image increased from 500 msec to 1,000 msec as its angular departure from upright increased from 0 to 180 deg. However, when Ss already knew the identity of the upcoming character and when advance information as to its orientation was available for 1,000 msec, this reaction time was reduced to about 400 msec regardless of the orientation of the test stimulus. In this case, Ss claimed that they could prepare for the rotated stimulus by imagining the normal version of the designated character rotated into the indicated orientation and that they could then rapidly test for a match against the ensuing stimulus.
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Cooper, L. A., & Shepard, R. N. Chronometric studies of the rotation of mental images. In W. G. Chase (Ed.),Visual information processing. New York: Academic Press, in press.
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Shepard, R. N., & Metzler, J. Mental rotation of three-dimensional objects. Science, 1971, 171, 701–703.
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This work was supported by the National Science Foundation (Research Grant GB-31971X) and was completed while the first author was on a National Science Foundation predoctoral fellowship and while the second author was a John Simon Guggenheim fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences. The authors are indebted to Lincoln Moses for suggestions concerning the statistical analyses, to Ernest Hilgard for the use of a tachistoscope provided by NIMH Grant 03859, and to James Cunningham, Elizabeth Smith, and particularly Christine Feng for various sorts of assistance.
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Cooperau, L.A., Shepard, R.N. The time required to prepare for a rotated stimulus. Memory & Cognition 1, 246–250 (1973). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03198104
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03198104