Imagery and Perception

This set of flashcards covers key concepts related to visual imagery and perception, based on lecture notes from a psychology course.

What is visual imagery?

The ability to 'see' something in the absence of a visual stimulus.

What does mental time travel refer to?

The ability to mentally relive past experiences, characteristic of episodic memory.

What did Alan Paivio (1963) demonstrate about memory?

Concrete nouns that can be imagined are easier to remember than abstract nouns.

What is the picture superiority effect?

The phenomenon where concrete images are remembered better than abstract concepts.

What is mental chronometry?

A method to measure the time taken to perform cognitive tasks to infer cognitive processes.

What is spatial perception?

The ability to perceive spatial relationships among objects in space.

What did Shepard and Metzler's experiment show?

It showed that imagery and perception may share the same mechanisms based on the time to decide if two images are the same.

What is Kosslyn's mental scanning task?

Participants create mental images and then scan those images in their minds, revealing that it takes longer to mentally move across further distances.

What is the tacit knowledge explanation?

The idea that participants unconsciously use knowledge of spatial relationships to make judgments in imagery tasks.

What are imagery neurons?

Neurons that respond to both perceiving and imagining a specific object.

What role does the primary visual cortex play in imagery?

It is activated during both perception and imagery, indicating a close connection between the two.

What is the significance of Kosslyn et al.'s (1999) TMS study?

It showed that brain activation is causally involved in both perception and imagery tasks.

What is unilateral neglect?

A condition where a patient ignores one half of their visual field in both perception and imagery due to brain damage.

What does double dissociation mean in the context of imagery and perception?

It refers to two functions (imagery and perception) being served by different mechanisms, evidenced by specific brain damage effects.

What conclusion can be drawn about the relationship between imagery and perception?

They share some but not all mechanisms, as indicated by both neuropsychological studies and fMRI evidence.

What is the difference between stable perception and fragile imagery?

Perception occurs automatically and remains stable, while imagery can quickly vanish without sustained effort.

How do individual differences affect imagery and perception?

People may rely on different cognitive styles, such as object visualization or verbal-analytical strategies, affecting how they create and manipulate mental images.