mental imagery and spatial cognition

Eidetic Imagery

A mental image that is so vivid and clear that it is as if it is actually perceived

perception

Research "results indicate that mental imagery is remarkably able to substitute for actual ____________"

Symbolic Distance Effect

When asked which of 2 animals is larger, takes longer when animals are _a similar_ size.

Selective Interference

Within modality > Cross-modality (visual + visual> visual + auditory)

survey map

accurately present distance and direction.

alignment heuristics

align things to make comparisons

Propositional Hypothesis

all information is coded and stored in the form of propositions (abstract language-like representations) propositional form; images are generated from propositions.

mental roatation

both timed and untimed tests; related to route learning

Neuropsychology

brain damage sometimes produces parallel impairments in imagery & perception

spatial visualization

complex, analytic, multistep processing of spatial info.

mental paper folding

do two edges match? number of folds required

heuristics

general problems solving strategies that often lead to a good solution) : tend to simplify and or standardize elements in our mental maps

Analog Code (Pictorial Representation) Hypothesis

imagery and perception are similar; visual images are like "mental pictures". Mental images and percepts are not identical but we can sometimes use mental images like we use real images (percepts). -allow us to answer questions and solve problems

spatiotemporal ability

involves judgments about, and responses to, dynamic visual displays.

neuroimaging

many common neural processes underlie perception and depictive imagery"

mental image

mental representation of an object or event that is not perceptually present; internally-generated (top-down), perception-like representation

visual

most research has studied __________ imagery

Internal Psychophysics

people take longer making decisions about mental objects when they are _more_ similar to each other. (Bigger difference make it easier and produces faster responses)/ accurate, faster decisions and judgements

network map

present important intersections ("nodes") and other minimal information needed for navigation

cognitive maps

rats form "_________" that encode "routes and environmental relationships"

right-angle bias

regularize 90 degree angles

image sizing

relative size of mental and sensory images is similar; Faster_ sentence verification for larger images

rotation heuristic

remember things (singular) as more vertical or horizontal

symmetry heuristic

remember things as more symmetrical

Object (Spatial) Location Memory

remembering where things are

field independence

requires identification of orientation (ex. Vertical) while ignoring distracting info.

image scanning

time required for scanning mental and sensory images is similar: increased 'distance' → increased RT (even though eyes closed during imaging)

Mental Rotation

timed same/different judgments for pairs of rotated letters and depictions of 3-D objects

Mental Clocks

we take longer to judge angle of hands on (imaged) clocks when hands are _closer together_. (more similarity, people take longer)