Research article summary (published 30 May 2002):

Naive optics: understanding the geometry of mirror reflections.

Full Abstract

Paper-and-pencil tasks showed that many university students believed that when laterally approaching a mirror, they would see a reflection in the mirror before it was geometrically possible. Participants failed to adequately factor in the observer's location in the room. However, when asked about the behavior of a ray of light, participants knew about the law of reflection. No differences between psychology and physics students were detected, suggesting that the phenomenon is widespread and refractory to training. The findings were replicated with observers making judgments about image locations in a real room using a pretend mirror. Possible heuristics about mirror reflection that might explain the data are discussed. Naive optics is a promising venue to further knowledge of how observers understand basic laws of physics.

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Author information

Author/s: Croucher, Camilla J (CJ); Bertamini, Marco (M); Hecht, Heiko (H);

Affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Liverpool, United Kingdom.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance (J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2002-Jun; vol 28 (issue 3) : pp 546-62

Dates: Created 2002/06/21; Completed 2003/01/10; Revised 2008/11/21;

PMID: 12075887, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adolescent Adult Concept Formation Distance Perception Female Humans

Humans Male Optics and Photonics Orientation Psychophysics Visual Perception

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