Visual Imagery and Perception Lecture Notes

Flashcards covering key concepts related to visual imagery and perception, highlighting their definitions, differences, similarities, and relevant experiments.

Visual Perception

A bottom-up process driven by external sensory input that is generally vivid, stable, and constrained by the laws of physics.

Visual Imagery

A top-down process that does not rely on direct sensory input, resulting in images that are weaker, less detailed, and easier to manipulate mentally.

Neural Overlap

The degree to which neural activation for visual imagery corresponds to activation for visual perception, as shown by neuroimaging studies.

Memory Function of Imagery

Visual imagery serves functions such as memory, problem solving, future planning, and fostering creativity and imagination.

Mental Scanning Tasks

Tasks that reveal similarities between visual imagery and perception, indicating longer scan times between greater distances in mental images.

Kosslyn et al (1978) Experiment

An experiment utilizing a fictional map that measured reaction time for mental scanning, demonstrating the relationship between distance in mental images and reaction time.

Differences between Imagery and Perception

Imagery involves generation and maintenance, is often piecemeal, and is easier to manipulate compared to perception.

Demonstration of Imagery

A task that asks participants to visualize and manipulate the letter 'B' to illustrate the concept of mental rotation.

Mental Rotation Tasks

Tasks where reaction times typically correlate with the degree of rotation needed, suggesting that imagery functions in a manner similar to perception.

Imagery and Perception Interaction

The concept that perception and imagery can influence one another, where imagery can prime perception and vice versa.