Module 08 - Visual Imagery

Q: What kind of memory process do we use when imagining our street/block?

A: Visual imagery — forming a mental map and “walking” through it in the mind’s eye.

Q: What is visual imagery?

A: A mental picture or internal representation of visual information.

Q: What are mnemonics?

A: Memory-improving strategies; many rely on imagery.

Q: What is the main debate in imagery research?

A: Analog vs propositional representations:

• Analog = picture-like mental images

• Propositional = verbal, language-based descriptions

Q: Why study neuropsychological cases in imagery?

A: They reveal how the brain processes visual images, showing which regions are involved.

Q: What is the Method of Loci?

A: A mnemonic where you visualize items placed along a familiar route, then mentally walk the route to recall them.

Q: What makes the Method of Loci more effective?

A: Creating interactive images (e.g., hot dogs rolling down the driveway).

Q: What is the pegword method?

A: Memorizing a rhyme list (one–bun, two–shoe, etc.) and forming visual associations with items to remember.

Q: Why do both of these mnemonics require prior investment?

A: You must learn the route (Loci) or rhymes (pegwords) before they work.

Q: What does Paivio’s Dual Code Hypothesis state?

A: Memory is better when information is encoded in two codes:

• Verbal

• Imagery-based

Q: Why are concrete words remembered better than abstract words?

A: Concrete words support dual coding (word + image), while abstract words rely mostly on verbal coding.

Q: What does this suggest about memory storage?

A: Visual images are useful, independent codes that support recall.

Q: What criticism is raised against Paivio’s theory?

A: Some argue concrete items are remembered better because they have richer verbal descriptions, not imagery.

Q: What did Shepard & Metzler study?

A: Whether people mentally rotate images to determine if two shapes match.

Q: What did they find?

A: Response time increased with greater degrees of rotation — same as rotating physical objects.

Q: What does this support?

A: The analog view — images behave like real objects in the mind.

Q: What was Kosslyn’s map experiment?

A: Participants memorized a map and then mentally “scanned” between locations in the image.

Q: Main finding?

A: Longer distances = longer response times, just like scanning a real map.

Q: Why is this important?

A: Shows that visual images preserve spatial properties.

Q: How do propositional theorists explain these results?

A: Through demand characteristics:People expect far distances to take longer, so they respond accordingly.

Q: What is implicit encoding?

A: Images contain details we didn’t intentionally encode (e.g., corners of an “F”).

Q: What is perceptual equivalence?

A: Imagery activates similar brain/perceptual systems as actual perception.

Q: What is spatial equivalence?

A: Spatial relationships in images correspond to real-world spatial layout.

Q: What is transformational equivalence?

A: Mental transformations (rotations) resemble physical transformations.

Q: What is structural equivalence?

A: Images are built in layers/parts, like real objects (complex images take longer to construct).

Q: What did Brooks (1968) show?

A: Interference occurs when two tasks use the same spatial resources (image scanning + pointing).

Q: What did Kosslyn’s mental walk task show?

A: Larger animals “overflow” the visual field at a greater distance — same as real perception.

Q: How did the Farah (MGS) case study support analog imagery?

A: After occipital lobe removal, her visual field for images shrank — imagery depends on visual cortex.

Q: What did DeVreese (1991) discover?

A: Patients who lose colour vision cannot imagine colours either.

Q: What did Bisiach & Luzzatti find in neglect patients?

A: Spatial neglect affects real-world space and imagined space.

Q: Key claim of propositional theory?

A: Images are not true memory codes; they are by-products of verbal descriptions.

Q: What argument supports this?

A: You can only inspect an image after knowing what it represents → meaning comes first.

Q: Which view does modern evidence support more?

A: The analog view — imagery is processed similarly to real perception and uses the visual cortex.