Chapter 10- mental imagery

paired-associate learning

A learning task in which participants are first presented with pairs of words, then one word of each pair is presented and the task is to recall the other word.

topographic map

A map that shows the surface features of an area.

mental scanning

A process of mental imagery in which a person scans a mental image in his or her mind.

propositional representation

A representation in which relationships are represented by symbols, as when the words of language represent objects and the relationships between objects.

spatial imagery refers

ability to image spatial relations- like a layout of a graden

mental chronometry

determining the amount of time needed to carry out a cognitive task

an actual visual image as well as imagining that same image

imagery neurons respond too

imagery occurs more automatically that perception

in drawing conclusions about the relationships between imagery and perception, a notable difference between them is that

it is harder to manipulate mental images that perceptual images

in drawing conclusions about the relationships between imagery and perception, a notable difference between them is that

symbolic code

is used for verbal information- representations are arbitrary

common coding theory

one form of representation that is common to all memories/knowledge-usually verbal

b. freedom

paivio (1963) proposed the conceptual peg hypothesis- his work suggest which of the following would be most difficult to remember

perception-imagery equivalence:

perception and imagery share similar mechanism and processes

selective interference effect

simultaneously performing two verbal tasks impairs performance on each task - or two visual tasks - doing a verbal and visual task does not impair performance on each

epiphenomenon

something that accompanies the real mechanism but is not actually part of the mechanism

mental imagery

the ability to re-create the sensory world in the absense of physical stimuli

a spatial layout

the propostional approach may use any of the following EXCEPT

The perky effect

-asked to imagine an object while an image of it was projected - aspects of their mental image changed based on the actual image - evidence for shared functions between perception and imagery

imageless thought debate

The debate about whether thought is possible in the absence of images.

spatial representation

a representation in which different parts of an image can be described as corresponding to specific locations in space

propositional theory

a theory that all knowledge, including spatial knowledge, can be expressed in semantic-based propositions

object imagery refers

ability to image visual details, features, or objects- such as a rose bush

conceptual peg hypothesis

concrete words allow forming visual images that other words, items, etc. can "hang onto"

Paper Folding Test

designed to measure spatial imagery-- participants designed to measure spatial imagery. particpants saw a piece of paper being folded ans the peirced a hole in ti, the task was is to pick from five choices how the paper was going to look like unfolded

plays a casual role in both perception and imagery

kosslyn's transcranial magnetic stimulation experiment on brain activation that occurs in response to imagery found that the brain activity in the visual cortex.

depictive representation

representations that are like realistic pictures of an object, so that parts of the representation correspond to parts of the object

imagery neurons

respond both to perceiving an object and imagining it

mental rotation

rotationally transforming an object's visual mental image

visual Imagery

seeing in the absense of a visual stimulus

pegword technique

use of familiar words or names as cues to recall items that have been associated with them

transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)

used TMS to investigate the connection between perception and imagery -TMS applied to the visual cortex during a perceptual task and an imagery task

analog code

used for visual imagery-- a representation that closely resembles the physical object

Dual coding theory

using both pictoral and verbal codes to represent information

small objects: activate the back of the visual cortex large objects: cause diffuse activation

when mapping the visual field of imagery- what happens to the brain with small objects and large objects.