Ch. 10 Flashcards
Explain how thought can be represented as analog codes or abstract codes
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Describe the imagery debate, including ideas about depictive and descriptive representations
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Provide evidence to support and refute depictive representations
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Explain how cognitive neuroscience has contributed to the imagery debate
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Discuss examples of how imagery affects cognition and behaviour
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Describe the variability observed in imagery ability across individuals
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John B. Watson, behaviourist, believed that imagery is…
“sheer bunk”; what we experience as imagery is better described as over-practiced language
Problem for scientific investigtion of imagery?
inherently introspective - cannot be verified by others
Knowledge from _ _ has allowed researchers to gain insight into what happens in the brain during imagery
cognitive neuroscience
Mental imagery is the experience of creating…
a perceptual experience in the brain in the absence of a physical stimulus
what you seen in your “mind’s eye”
Is all imagery visual?
no, it can take one of many sensory modalities
e.g., song stuck in your head - auditory
Can you create mental images of stimuli you have never experienced?
absolutely, that’s what dreaming helps us do
Which of the examples below does NOT require mental imagery?
a. remembering the sour taste of a lemon
b. knowing multiplication tables from memory
c. thinking of the sound of the ocean
d. remembering the pain you feel when you stub your toe
b. knowing multiplication tables from memory
Correct! Mental imagery requires conjuring a mental picture or representation.
Dual coding theory is about knowledge representation that proposes that knowledge…
can be stored as an abstract verbal code or an analogue imagery-based code (Allan Paivio)
Paivio’s dual coding theory suggets that human knowledge was represented by…
by two separate systems:
- verbal
- nonverbal, imagery system
What key feature of the verbal system is found in Paivio’s dual coding theory? What about the nonverbal system
- a type of abstract code - an arbitrary symbol system (much like language)
- sensorimotor info that is modality-specific (things resemble what they are in nature)
What is an exception to language being an arbitrary symbol system?
onomatopoeia - a word that resembles the sound of the item it is referring to, for example, quack or boom
A problem with Paivio’s dual coding theory (verbal and nonverbal systems, i.e., language and analog code)?
it didn’t deal with the question of the nature of imagery itself - more about representing the content of thought
The imagery debate among cognitive psychologist is about whether…
images are stored as pictures in our minds or as propositions
Which of the following ideas proposed that thought can be represented as words or images?
a. the imagery debate
b. analog codes
c. dual coding theory
d. abstract codes
c. dual coding theory
Correct! It is called “dual” because there are 2 proposed systems—one verbal and one non-verbal.
Which of the following is the best example of an analog code?
a. the word stop
b. a red traffic light
c. a stop sign
d. a “walking person” walk signal at an intersection
d. a “walking person” walk signal at an intersection
The word “stop,” a red traffic light, and a stop sign are all abstract codes. None of them resemble what they are meant to convey, which is to stop. A “walking person” signal is the most similar to an analog code because it resembles what it is meant to convey.
T or F: the imagery debate is concerned with whether mental images exist and whether we can use imagery for other cognitive tasks
false - we know that humans experience mental images based on introspective experience and experiments, and that imagery influences cognition, memory and decision making
The imagery debate involves the interpretation of _, and in what particular modality
codes - language? picture-like?
Which of the following questions does the imagery debate address?
a. Are images a primary way we use to store knowledge?
b. Can images influence cognitive processing?
c. Can humans experience imagery?
d. Is imagery the only way we understand the world?
a. Are images a primary way we use to store knowledge?
Empirical data support the existence of imagery, but it is still not clear the format, or code, that imagery takes on
Kosslyn believe that, as far as the imagery debate is concerned, that images are _ _, analogue codes that maintain the perceptual and spatial characteristics of physical objects
depictive representations
A depictive representation maintains the spatial relationships of the real-life stimulus. According to Kosslyn, a mental image of this kitchen would maintain…
relative spatial locations of the microwave, stove, and toaster
What differentiates conceptual vs descriptive representations?
depictive representation maintains the relative distance between objects, and other perceptual and spatial info, whereas descriptive is only perceptual
