An experimental study on the presence or absence of orientation-free representations in form recognition.

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Mental rotation of a visual image may or may not accompany judgment as to whether two figures shown in different orientations are identical to each other or not. Takano (1989) developed the information type theory, which claims that mental rotation or some alternative strategies to cope with orientation difference are needed when the two figures are mirror images of each other. Later, Cohen & Kubovy (1993) reported that mental rotation did not occur when mirror image discrimination was required together with pressure to curtail reaction time. In the present study, their procedures were followed to see if their results are replicable. Mental rotation did not occur regardless of the presence or absence of RT pressure. Thus, their results were not replicated. Analyses of the participants' reports suggested that some of them employed alternative strategies (see Takano, 1987) instead of mental rotation and that some of them formed mental representation in different orientations other than the one in which the figure was originally presented.