Chapter 7: Mental Images and Propositions

Characteristics of a mental model (Johnson- Laird)

-A representation of a described situation rather than a representation of a text itself or the propositions conveyed by a text -The structure corresponds to the functional relations among entities as they would exist in the world -A simulation of events in the world, either real or imaginary

Kossyln (1976)

-Asked college students and fourth-graders simple questions about animals -Varied the type of instructions used to answer questions ~Imagery instructions ~No imagery

Jolicoeur & Kosslyn (1985)

-Created a false demand characteristic for a U-shaped function for participants -Proposed that Gestalt principle of proximity makes close points "hard," and distant points would also take longer -No experimental expectancy effect found -Supported idea that image is being used

Kosslyn (1975)

-Examine how participants scan and use images -Some participants imagine an elephant next to a rabbit -Others imagine a rabbit next to a fly -Then answer questions about the rabbit -Reaction time to answer is measured

Kossyln (1976) results

-In the imagery condition, questions were answered faster if the attribute was larger (e.g., head vs. claw) -In the no imagery condition, questions were answered faster based on distinctiveness of characteristic for the animal, not impact of size (e.g., cats have claws vs. cats have heads)

Farah (1988) - results

-L.H. ~Poor visual image skill (could not recognize pictures) ~Normal spatial image skill (rotating, scanning, state locations) -Thus, both types of imagery must exist

Humans use three types of knowledge

-Landmark (special buildings) -Route-road (procedures to get to one place from another) -Survey (global map-like view)

Carmichael et al. (1932)

-Later participants were asked to draw items seen -Participants distorted the images to fit the labels -This pattern supports the idea that images may be stored propositionally, not as original analog images

Kosslyn (1983) - results

-Linear relationship between the distance to scan and actual reaction time of participants -Further support for functional-equivalence hypothesis ~Mental images are internal representations that operate in a way that is analogous to the functioning of the perception of physical objects

Shepard & Metzler (1971)

-Mental chronometry -Participants had to decide whether displays had two similar shapes -Some pairs were similar, but rotated to various degrees

Fink(1989)

-Mental transformations of images and mental movements acoss images corresponds to physical objects and percepts -Spatial arrangements of a mental image are similar to spatial arrangements of actual object -Images can be used to generate information not explicitly stored during encoding -Processes of visual system are used on both mental images and visual objects

Carmichael, Hogan, & Walters

-Participants were shown simple figures with one of two verbal labels

three types of mental representations (Johnson- Laird)

-Propositional representations are pieces of information resembling natural language -Mental imagery are perceptual models from a particular point of view -Mental models are structural analogies of the world

Kerr's (1983) evidence for mental models

-Studied participants who were blind -Created a tactile Kosslyn map study equivalent -Participants had to study the island, given a physical map to touch -Asked the same scanning questions -Found the same pattern of results—longer distances, longer reaction times

Pavio Dual-Code theory

-Use 2 codes to represent information (Paivio, 1971) -Paivio noted verbal information is processed differently from pictorial information -Concluded that dual code was created for concrete words (analog and verbal label) but not for abstract words

Spatial imagery (analog spatial format)

-rotating objects -aiming and shooting at a target

Visual Imagery (images are visual)

-seeing color -comparing shapes

Chambers & Reisberg (1985)

-showed ambiguous figures for 5 seconds and asked for first interpretation -removed picture; asked people to form a mental image -Conclusion: A propositional code may override the imaginal code in some circumstances

empirical support

Experiments (observe how people handle cognitive tasks that require manipulation of mental represented knowledge

Neuroscience evidence

Farah (1988) -Brain injury case study (L.H.) -Gave some visual tasks ~Color identification, object naming -Gave some imagery tasks ~Mental rotation, mental scanning

Mental Imagery

Internal representation of items that are not currently being sensed, or experiencing a sensory impression in the absence of sensory input

Symmetry heuristic

Irregular geographic boundaries are made regular (e.g., Americans straighten out the Canadian border)

Functional-equivalency hypothesis

Mental images are internal representations that operate in a way that is analogous to the functioning of the perception of physical objects -imagery and perception are similar

Neuropsychological research

More evidence for similarity for perception and imagery when examine unilateral spatial neglect

Alignment heuristic

People distort their mental images to represent landmarks and boundaries as better aligned than they really are

Kosslyn's research with image scanning suggests there is a spatial correspondence between imagery and perception, or a depictive representation

Phylyshyn argues that it is an epiphenomenon Phylyshyn argues that imagery is propositional, or represented by abstract symbols, language

Relative-position heuristic

Relative positions of landmarks and boundaries are distorted in ways consistent with people's conceptual knowledge (e.g., is Reno, Nevada east or west of San Diego CA?)

Propositional theory

Storing the meaning of the concepts

Right-angle bias

Streets are drawn at 90-degree angles (even when they are not)

Rotation heuristic

Tend to "regularize" tilted landmarks in maps to appropriate E-W or N-S axis

Spatial cognition

acquisition, organization and use of knowledge about objects and actions in 2-D and 3-D space

Words

capture abstract and categorical information

Pictures

capture concrete and spatial information

rationalist approac

declarative and procedural knowledge

Self Report

describe what you see in an image

Auditory Imagery

describes what we hear

Visual Imagery

describes what we see

Olfactory Imagery

describes what we smell

Gustatory Imagery

describes what we taste

Tactile Imagery

describes what we touch or feel

Mental Imagery

experiencing a sensory impression in the absence of sensory input

Cognitive maps

internal representations of physical environment

Mental Representation

what you know in your mind about things, ideas, events,ect