Chapter 10: Visual Imagery

mental imagery

experiencing a sensory impression in the absence of sensory input

visual imagery

seeing in the absence of a visual stimulus

Paivio (1963, 1965)

memory for words that ecoke mental images is better than those that do not

conceptual-peg hypothesis

Shepard and Meltzer (1971)

conducted experiments demonstrating that mental rotation of three-dimensional objects takes time, suggesting that visual imagery operates similarly to physical rotation.

Kosslyn (1973)

Task: memorize picture, create an image of it. In image, move from one part of the picture to another

Result: it took longer for participants to mentally move long distances thatn shorter distances

Implication: like perception, imagery is spacial

Lea (1975)

proposed that visual imagery involves a depiction of objects in a spatial format, influencing how we process and recall information.

Kosslyn et al. (1978)

Task: study figure of island with 7 locations, 21 trips

Results: took longer to scan between greater distances

Implication: visual imagery is spatial

Pylyshyn (1973)

spatial representation is an epiphenomenon of a propositional representation, suggesting that mental images are not real spatial representations but rather descriptions of the situation.

proposition representation

symbols, language

spacial (depictive) representation

pictures

Finke and Pinker (1982)

Task: Ps judge whether arrow points to dots previously seen

Results: longer rxn time when greater distance between arrow and dot

mental-walk task

A cognitive task where participants visualize walking towards an imagined object, used to study spatial imagery and representation in the mind.

imagery neurons respond to both _____ and _____ an object

perceiving and imaging

unilateral neglect

patient ignores objects in one half of visual field in perception and imagery

Chalmers and Reisberg (1985)

Task: had participants create mental images of ambiguous figures

results: different to flip from one perception to another while holding mental image of it

method of loci

A mnemonic technique that involves associating information with specific locations or landmarks in a familiar environment to aid memory retrieval.

Pegword technique

A mnemonic device that entails linking words with numbers using rhymes or visual images to aid in memory retention.

Kosslyn interpreted the results of his technique on imagery such as the island experiment as supporting the idea that the mechanism responsible for imagery involves _____ representations

spatial