Mental Imagery in Cognitive Neuroscience

These flashcards cover key concepts related to mental imagery as discussed in the lecture on cognitive neuroscience.

Mental Imagery

Representations that are similar to perceptions but do not require external stimulation to be created.

Top-down processing

A cognitive process that starts with a larger concept and works down to the details.

Mental rotation paradigm

A cognitive task developed by Shepard and Metzler that measures response time for identifying whether two 3D objects have the same shape.

Analog code

A type of mental representation where each part of the representation corresponds to a part of the represented object, preserving spatial relationships.

Propositional code

An abstract, language-like mental representation that does not resemble the original stimulus, used in the propositional debate regarding imagery.

Image scanning paradigm

A method used by Kosslyn, Ball, and Reiser to investigate mental imagery, where participants mentally 'walk' around a map and their scanning time increases with distance.

Neuroimaging data

Research findings that provide evidence of the correlation between visual imagery and the brain areas involved in visual perception.

Visual cortex

The part of the brain primarily responsible for processing visual information, which is activated during imagery.

Aphantasia

The inability to voluntarily create mental images, resulting in challenges in forming mental representations of objects.

Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (VVIQ)

A tool used to assess the clarity and liveliness of mental images experienced by individuals.