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Related Experiment Videos

Mirror reversals: real and perceived

W H Ittelson1

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Arizona, Tucson 85721.

Perception
|January 1, 1993
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Mirrors create optical reversals perpendicular to their surface. Perceptual problems arise from apparent parallel reversals, challenging existing theories on object symmetry and mirror images.

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Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Optics
  • Perception

Background:

  • Mirrors optically reverse the axis perpendicular to their surface.
  • Perceptual phenomena include apparent reversals parallel to the mirror surface, such as right-left reversals.
  • Previous research by Ittelson, Mowafy, and Magid proposed an explanation based on an object's axis of greatest symmetry.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine and critique scientific papers that disagree with the symmetry-based explanation of apparent mirror reversals.
  • To analyze the arguments presented in the works of Haig, Morris, and Gregory.
  • To further discuss the complexities of apparent mirror reversals in perception.

Main Methods:

  • Critical analysis of existing scientific literature.
  • Examination of arguments presented in papers by Haig, Morris, and Gregory.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Theoretical discussion of perceptual reversals.

    • Main Results:

    • Arguments presented in the examined papers (Haig, Morris, Gregory) are found to be unconvincing.
    • The existing theory regarding symmetry-based reversals is implicitly supported by the critique.

    Conclusions:

    • The explanation of apparent mirror reversals based on an object's axis of greatest symmetry remains a significant point of discussion.
    • Further detailed discussion is needed to fully understand the perceptual problem of mirror reversals.