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Updated: Jul 11, 2026

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Published on: November 10, 2010
Relationship between frames of reference and mirror-image reversals
Hirokazu Yoshimura1, Tatsuo Tabata
1Department of Psychology, Hosei University, 2-17-1 Fujimi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-8160, Japan. yosimura@hosei.ac.jp
Abstract:
The mirror puzzle related to the perception of mirror images as left-right reversed can be more fully understood by considering an extended problem that includes also the perception of mirror images that are not left-right reversed. The purpose of the present study is to clarify the physical aspect of this extended problem logically and parsimoniously. Separate use of the intrinsic frame of reference that belongs to the object and one that belongs to its mirror image always leads to the perception of left-right reversal when the object has left-right asymmetry; on the other hand, the perception of left-right nonreversal is always due to the application of a common frame of reference to the object and its mirror image.
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