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