8. Visual Imagery and Spatial Cognition

Question 1

Name mnemonic techniques

Answer 1

Method of loci
Interacting Images

Question 2

Explain the method of loci mnemonic

Answer 2

imagines a series of locations that have some order to them

Question 3

Explain the Interacting images mnemonic

Answer 3

recall of concrete nouns improved when participants were asked to form images of the words

Question 4

Explain the pegword method mnemonic

Answer 4

picture items with a set of ordered “cues” and peg them to the cue

ie. a memorized rhyming list

Question 5

What is a mnemoic technique that does not involve imagery

Answer 5

Mediators
- adding extra words/sentiences to go between memory and material

etc. HOMES for great lakes

Question 6

How does imagery affect memory for autobiographical events

Answer 6

Guided imagery can increase phenomenology ratings for imagined events (they feel real)

Question 7

Explain the dual coding hypothesis

Answer 7

concrete words give verbal labels and visual images

abstract words are only represented by verbal labels

Question 8

Why was the CA (concrete-abstract) recall much better than the AC recall in Paivio’s experiment for the dual coding hypothesis?

Answer 8

He believes that the first noun in a pair serves as the “conceptual peg” for the second noun to be hooked

Question 9

What is the dual coding hypothesis vs. relational organizational hypothesis when it comes to arguing why imagery improved memory

Answer 9

dual coding hypothesis: images are richer than verbal labels

relational organizational hypothesis: imagery produces more associations between the items to be recalled

Question 10

What experiment did Bower construct to distinguish between the relational organizational hypothesis vs dual coding hypothesis

Answer 10

Paired associates learning task, asked participants to construct non-interactive and interactive imagery

non-interactive did worse, when dual coding would have expected to be similar

suggests that there are more links created in interactive imagery, making it easier to retrieve

Question 11

What did Brooks’s experiment on identifying corners of “F” and nouns in a sentence by pointing/saying show

Answer 11

people were much slower at pointing corners of F
- likely as mental resources are being used to construct the visual image, and increases the difficulty of the task
- supports visual and audio having different codes
(dual coding hypothesis)

Question 12

What is the symbolic distance effect as described by Moyer

Answer 12

We answer questions where the size differed greatly vs. when they are similar

etc “what is bigger a whale or a cockroach”

Question 13

What did Cooper’s studies on mental rotation show in terms of performance time

Answer 13

angle of rotation is proportional to time needed to classify

suggests that mental rotation works similarly to physical rotation

Question 14

What is Kosslyn’s image scanning experiment

Answer 14

it takes longer to find something in a mental imagery if the two things are located far apart (time for eyes to “sweep over”)

Question 15

what is the Analog vs Propositional view of imagery

Answer 15

Analog view: mental images are useful codes in memory

Propositional view: we only store abstract linguistic codes in memory

Question 16

What are demand characteristics

Answer 16

participants are cued to perform in a way that supports the expectations of the research

Question 17

What is Finke’s principle of spatial equivalence in imagery

Answer 17

Spatial relations in images should correspond to spatial relations in physical space

Map scanning

Question 18

what is a heuristic

Answer 18

rules of thumb

related experiment: where is south America located– not directly south bro

Question 19

What are Finke’s 5 principles of visual imagery

Answer 19

1. Implicit Encoding
2. Perceptual Equivalence
3. Spatial Equivalence
4. Transformational Equivalence
5. Structural Equivalence

SPITS

Question 20

What is Finke’s principle of implicit encoding in imagery

Answer 20

We can use imagery to retrieve implicitly encoded physical information

etc. the number of edges in the letter F
-> imagine F and count

Question 21

What is Finke’s principle of perceptual equivalence in imagery

Answer 21

Imagery is functionally similar to perception, and similar mechanisms in the visual system are activated as if we are actually perceiving something

Experiment:
Participants who were imagining that they were looking at an object while staring at a blank screen could not distinguish between their imagination + faint images that were projected

Question 22

What is Finke’s principle of transformational equivalence in imagery

Answer 22

imagined transformations and physical transformation are governed by the same laws of motion

etc. how we rotate

Question 23

What is Finke’s principle of structural equivalence in imagery

Answer 23

The structure of mental images corresponds to that of actual perceived object
- coherent
- the more complex the conceived structure of an object, the longer it takes to assemble it

Experiment: 5 squares vs. 2 overlapping rectangles for +

Question 24

What are some arguments against imagery studies

Answer 24

Tactic knowledge: belief about the task
Demand characteristics: task “demands” a certain behaviour and the participants do it to please the experimenter

Question 25

What are experimenter expectancy effects

Answer 25

unintentional cues by the experimenter causes the experiment to go according to their expectation

Question 26

What are some differences between pictures and visual images

Answer 26

• you can look at a picture without knowing what it is but you need to know for an image
• photographs are disrupted by being cut away, images are organized meaningfully and the meaningful parts disappear when they fade
• images are more easily distorted by the viewer’s interpretations

Question 27

What is propositional theory

Answer 27

• does not believe that images are a distinct mental code for representing information
• believe that there is a single code that is propositional in nature that stores all information

Question 28

What view analog/propositional does neurological evidence support

Answer 28

analog

Question 29

What are 3 kinds of spaces in spatial cognition

Answer 29

space of the body
space around the body
space of navigation