How the Spiegelbeelden test works
You see one figure, then six versions of it, a to f, each at a different angle. Four are only turned. Two have been flipped over as well, and those are the two you mark. The flipped ones are usually turned a little too, so you cannot spot them by angle alone.
NOA’s own examples use small stick figures, first with a mouth and eye and then without. Turning a figure in your head is a flat movement; flipping it means imagining it turned over, which is why this subtest feels harder than its clock suggests.
Spiegelbeelden is part of the MCT-M and MCT-H only. It is not in the adaptive MCT-A, and in 2020 Hogeschool Utrecht’s 21+ admission used six subtests that left it out.
How to spot a mirror image
Anchor on one feature and check which side it ends up on:
- Choose a feature of the original that is on one side only, such as an arm, a dot or a short spur.
- For each option, turn it in your head until its main line matches the original’s.
- If the feature is on the same side as the original, the option is only turned. If it is on the other side, it is flipped.
- Stop at two. Every item has exactly two flipped figures.
Worked example
The original is an L shape: a long upright arm with a short arm at the bottom pointing right. The options: a, turned 90 degrees clockwise; b, flipped left to right; c, turned 180 degrees; d, flipped and then turned 90 degrees; e, turned 270 degrees; f, turned 45 degrees.
Turn each option until its long arm stands upright. In a, c, e and f the short arm then points right, as in the original, so they are only turned. In b and d it points left. The answer is b and d.
Tips for the real Spiegelbeelden test
- Thirty seconds an item is generous. Save it for the later, harder items rather than rushing them.
- Do not try to turn the whole figure. Track one end of it and the direction of its first bend.
- Most people do not finish, so leave an item that will not resolve and come to the next one.
- Pick your anchor feature on the original once, then use the same one for all six options.
- Stop only between subtests, never in the middle of one, if you need a break.
Practise Spiegelbeelden on CogniPrep
Our Mirror Images game gives you 30 items on a 15-minute clock. Tick the two flipped figures out of six and press Next. Early figures carry a dot and a tick to help; the hardest ones have no marks. Both ticks must be right to score the item. You see your number right and a Lager, Midden or Hoger band against CogniPrep users.