Ch 7-9 Flashcards
Define “imagery.”
Define “visual imagery”
Define “auditory imagery.” Provide examples of each.
Mental imagery is a knowledge based Top-down cognitive process that enables us to create the mental image of an object without actually seeing or hearing it based on the knowledge stored in our LTM. Contrary to perception in which sensory information and object features of the objects being analyzed and registered(bottom up process), imagery extracts the sensory impression stored in our memory and depends on the sensory input done earlier
Visual imagery refers to the process of painting the mental picture of a face or location and Auditory imagery refers to sounds of voices, instruments etc.,. Mental images take longer to produce and reflect the inner thought process (sometimes involuntary)
Describe Shepard and Metzler’s research on mental images and their major findings. What are the more recent findings involving mental rotation? What does the neuroscience literature reveal?
Shepard and Metzler hypothesized that similar to physical rotation, mental rotation of an object 180 degree will take longer than 90 degree rotation. The participants of the study examined 1600 pairs of drawings and were instructed to signal if the images are the same( The mental rotation of one item will match up the second image) or if they are different( can’t match the images) . The research timed the dependent variable- reaction time that represents the amount of mental rotation required to match the images. Results demonstrated that two-dimensional and three dimensional rotation takes almost the same amount of time and a clear connection between angle of rotation and reaction time.
Recent findings in the research of mental imagery corroborated that the shorter the distance needed to rotate the image the faster the judgment. Kosslyn et al. (2001) conducted a series of mental rotation experiments and through PET scans demonstrated that prior physical rotation of an object caused the activation of the primary motor cortex when performing mental rotation. The experiments also demonstrated that different parts of the brain are activated in reaction to the type of instructions given to the participants: when people received the standard instructions to rotate the figure, their right frontal parietal lobes. When participants were instructed to imagine rotating themselves to view the image from different angles they activated their left temporal lobe and part of the motor cortex, which have implications for people recovering from a stroke.
What is the imagery debate? Define “analog code” and “propositional code.”
What is the status of this debate, and what are the relevant neuroscience findings?
The imagery debate describes the controversy around mental images: are they similar to the images registered by our perception or are they similar to language .
The analog code approach is used to describe the mental images that closely resemble the actual object and the way it was registered by our perceptive senses (analogy) . The details that are not registered by our perception will also be missing from our mental image.
In contrast, the Propositional code approach argues that mental images are much like language’s abstract representation and not like perception. The brain forms an abstract representation of the object in terms of dots and lines and then the brain produces a verbal description of the abstract shape.
If mental images really resemble the physical objects, then the decision times or judgments about images should be similar to the decision times or judgments about actual objects. When the decisions are similar in both perception and imagery, then researchers use this evidence to argue for an analog code. When the decisions are different, researchers use this evidence to argue for a propositional code.
Summarize Reed’s (1974) study on reinterpreting mental images
Summarize Chambers and Reisbergs’s (1985) study of ambiguous figures. Do these findings support the analog or propositional view?
Describe the study on visualizers and verbalizers, and summarize the major findings.
Reed presented participants with a series of paired figures and asked them to decide whether a specific image was part of a larger design or not. The purpose of the study was to examine whether people store mental images of physical objects so they are used later to uncover hidden shapes they store. Reed argued, based on his findings, that people occasionally store images in the form of verbal descriptions that are used later as a form of propositional code.
The research on ambiguous figures shows that people can create mental images using both propositional and analog codes. That is, we often use analog codes to provide picture-like representations that capture our mental images. However, when the stimuli or situations make it difficult to use analog codes, we may create a verbal representation, using a propositional code
Chambers and Reisbergs’s (1985) presented participants with an image of an animal that could be viewed as both a rabbit facing right or a duck facing left (ambiguous image).Participants were then asked to form a mental image of the figure and provide a different interpretation of the figure. The participants could not provide a different image interpretation, thus demonstrating mental images can’t be used for consultation .In the second phase of the experiment the participants were asked to draw the image from their memory and were able to provide a second interpretation to the image they drew. The results demonstrate that a verbal propositional code such as a “rabbit facing right” can produce better results than a weak analog code.
Visualizers are individuals with a strong tendency to paint mental images for their cognitive representation compared to verbalizers who tend to favor verbal descriptions. Cognitive neuroscience research conducted by Nishimura et.al (2016) using MEG (magnetic fluctuations) concluded that visualizers produced more activity in the occipital regions of the cortex which are connected to visual processing. Verbalizers produced more activity in language related areas of the brain located in the frontal cortex.
Summarize Kosslyn’s classic research on distances in mental images and scanning times.
Summarize Paivio’s research using mental clocks and the angles formed by the two clock hands. Do these findings support the analog position or the propositional position?
Kosslyn and colleagues asked participants to measure distance between two points on a mental map they created. According to the results the distance that needs to be scan directly affects the time required to measure that distance. These findings support the analog approach since the amount of time changes based on the amount of mental image information suggesting the brain forms a general impression and then translates it to a verbal description i.e, the distance. (people’s judgments about the shape of mental images are similar to their judgments about the shape of physical stimuli.)
Pavio asked participants to visualize the hands of a clock and then decide the angle the hands form in a specific hour and compare it to a different hour. While participants with high imagery ability made quicker decisions, both groups were slower in deciding between relatively similar positions( e.g., the arms setting at 3:20 compared to 7:25) and faster when the differences were more obvious both physically and mentaly, thus supporting the analog code approach.
Summarize the research findings on whether visual images interfere with visual perception and what this finding means. Do these findings support the analog position or the propositional position?
What are demand characteristics, and how were they ruled out as an explanation of findings?
Numerous research findings confirmed that visual imagery creates an interference with visual perception. In a study conducted by Segal and Fusella (1970) participants were asked to visualize an object and immediately were presented with a physical stimulus. Measuring the participants ability to recognize the physical stimulus, researchers found that the mental imagery created a challenge to the visual perception of the participants as it occupied the same sensory mode. However, when participants were asked to imagine a sound and were presented with a visual stimulus they had less difficulty as both actions occupied different sensory modes. These findings further support the analog code approach as it appears that we engage with and judge imagery stimulus similar to how we perceive physical stimulus.
Demand characteristics is a research method in which the experiment includes cues that indicate to the participant what the researcher hypothesis is. Demand characteristic presence may influence the participants and produce results that support the analog code approach for example by guessing that visual imagery is expected to disrupt visual perception. The masking effect is virtually unknown to people who have not completed a course in perception.
The participants in the study by Ishai and Sagi (1995) would not know that visual targets are especially easy to see if they are surrounded by masking stimuli. Therefore, demand characteristics cannot account for the masking effect with mental images. As a result, we can be more confident that visual imagery really can produce the masking effect, just as visual perception can produce the masking effect. Visual imagery can indeed resemble visual perception.
Summarize the gender differences in spatial ability. What is a meta-analysis?
According to the meta analysis on gender differences in cognitive abilities shown in table 7.1, numerous studies showed gender similarities in verbal ability.Gender similarity was also demonstrated in math ability however gender differences in spatial ability proved to be more substantial. Spatial ability is divided into several skills: spatial visualization (look for hidden objects in a sketch ) Gender differences in spatial visualization are small, according to Hyde’s (2005) summary of meta-analyses. The second component is spatial perception (sitting in a dark room and adjusting an illuminated rod so that it is in an exactly vertical position) which has a moderate gender difference according to the meta analysis. The third component of spatial ability is mental rotation in which males are more likely to be quicker than females.some studies report that the gender differences disappear when the task instructions are changed and when people receive training on spatial skills.In addition, a large portion of the gender differences in spatial rotation can be traced to the fact that boys typically have more experience with toys and sports (and perhaps even video games) that emphasize spatial skills (Voyer et al., 2000). In other words, this one area of cognitive gender differences can be reduced by providing girls with experience and training in spatial activities.
Summarize the research on auditory imagery in the areas of pitch and timbre. Why is the study of auditory imagery important?
Pitch is the frequency of the sound that allows us to judge if a sound is “high” or “low” . Margaret J. Intons-Peterson (one of the creators of the Brown/Peterson & Peterson technique for assessing short-term memory) conducted a research on pitch that examined the time it takes to alternate between different auditory images. Results demonstrated that participants took an average of 4 seconds to travel between the auditory image of a cat purring (low) to the auditory image of a door slamming (high) and about 6 seconds to transfer to the auditory image of a siren. Meaning that the distance between the two actual tones correlates with the distance between the two imagined tones.
Timbre refers to the tone color or quality and is influenced by the sound wave form. Andrea Halpern and her co authors (2004), researched people’s ability to rate timbre similarities in two conditions- a physical auditory perception (listening to the instrument) and an auditory imagery condition based on the names of the instruments. The participants showed that their cognitive representation for the timbre of an actual musical instrument was similar to the cognitive representation for the timbre of an imagined musical instrument.
the study of auditory imagery lend further support to the Analog approach
Define “cognitive maps” and “spatial cognition.” Explain how the two terms are related.
What are heuristics, and how are they related to cognitive maps?
Cognitive map is the mental representation of geographical information and physical environment and focuses on the relationships between environmental objects. Cognitive maps mostly represent large geographical areas and are made from an integration of several past views of the area. The research on cognitive maps is a subcategory of research on Spatial cognition that refers to the acquisition, organization and use of spatial knowledge.
The three main components of spatial cognition are: thoughts about cognitive maps, the way we remember the world, keeping track of the various objects in the spatial dimension.people tend to be accurate in judging their ability to find their way to unfamiliar locations (Kitchin & Blades, 2002). In other words, your metacognition about your spatial ability may be reasonably correct. Individual differences in spatial cognition are correlated with people’s scores on tests of the visuospatial sketchpad (Gyselinck & Meneghetti, 2011). Spatial-cognition scores are also correlated with performance on the spatial tasks For example, people who are good at mental rotation are more skilled than others in using maps to find a particular location (Fields & Shelton, 2006; Shelton & Gabrieli,
A heuristic is a general problem-solving strategy that usually produces a correct solution.
Heuristics use sacrifice accuracy for speed. In other words, heuristics are generally faster than algorithms, but they are not as accurate as algorithms. Heuristics sacrifice accuracy for speed. In other words, heuristics are generally faster than algorithms, but they are not as accurate as algorithms.
Briefly describe the research on the three factors that have been shown to influence estimates of distance based on mental maps. How are the shapes in our cognitive maps affected?
(1) the number of intervening cities: a lack of intervening cities causes people to underestimate the distance between two places while the presence of intervening cities they overestimate the distance (Heuristic principle-two cities are likely to be further apart when there are three intervening cities)
(2) category membership According to research people tend to create categories; produces the tendency to estimate the distance between related locations as shorter( for example moving a fire station closer to a hospital compared to a movie theater). Similar distortion was demonstrated also when judging the distances between inner borders of cities compared to international borders of the entire country, a phenomenon called the border bias( people estimate that the distance between two specific locations is larger if they are on different sides of a geographic border, compared to two locations on the same side of that border.).
(3) whether the destination is a landmark the landmark effect is the tendency to estimate a shorter traveling distance to a landmark (an important geographical location) compared to a non landmark.
Cognitive maps also represent shapes such as angels of intersections. According to research, our cognitive maps tend to underrepresented irregular shapes, and have the tendency to “regularize” shapes such as intersection angle and have a clear bias towards 90 degree angles
Describe the research of Barbara Tversky and her colleagues on the relative positions of geographical locations.
What is the rotation heuristic?
What is the alignment heuristic? How are they different?
According to Barbara Tversky (1981, 1998) we use heuristics to represent relative positions in our mental maps similar to how we use heuristics to normalize the degrees of intersections and to represent curves as being symmetrical. According to Tversky these heuristics result in two kinds of errors:
(1) The rotation heuristic: a figure that is slightly tilted will be remembered as being either more vertical or more horizontal than it really is, such as creating a horizontal border when in reality it is slanted.
(2) The alignment heuristic is the tendency to remember a series of separate geographic structures as being more lined up than they really are
Summarize Franklin and Tversky’s (1990) research on how people construct mental representations through the use of verbal descriptions.
What is the spatial framework model?
A cognitive map is a mental representation of geographic information, including the environment that surrounds us. When we encounter a description of a spatial setting, we do not simply store these isolated statements in a passive fashion. Instead—we actively create a cognitive map that represents the relevant features of a scene
The spatial framework model emphasizes that the above-below spatial dimension is especially important in our thinking, the front-back dimension is moderately important, and the right-left dimension is least important. When we are in a typical upright position, the vertical (above-below) dimension is especially important for two reasons:
(1) The vertical dimension is correlated with gravity,
(2) The vertical dimension on an upright human’s body is physically asymmetric. That is, the top (head) and the bottom (feet) are very easy to tell apart, and so we do not confuse them with each other. These two factors combine to help us make judgments about the above-below dimension very rapidly.
(3)When we are upright, the front-back dimension is not correlated with gravity. However, we usually interact with objects in front of us more easily than with objects in back of us, introducing an asymmetry.
(4)Most of us show minor preferences for our right or left hand when we manipulate objects
Our cognitive maps, therefore, reveal certain biases. These biases are based on our long-term interactions with our bodies and with the physical properties of the external world
Situated cognition approach
According to the situated cognition approach, we make use of helpful information in the immediate environment or situation. Therefore, our knowledge depends on the context that surrounds us
When people rotate a visual image, a large rotation takes them longer, just as they take longer when making a large rotation with a physical stimulus
People make distance judgments in a similar fashion for visual images and for physical stimuli.
People make decisions about shape in a similar fashion for visual images and for physical stimuli. This conclusion holds true for both simple shapes (angles formed by hands on a clock) and complex shapes (geographic regions, like Colorado or West Virginia).
Define “semantic memory,” and provide some examples. How is it related to top-down processing? Define “categories” and “concepts.” Explain how categories and concepts are related to semantic memory.
Semantic memory in psychology is the organized knowledge we have about the world, including knowledge about words and other factual information such as the month of August is summer time. Semantic memory contains automatic and established information which influences our information intake and interpretation based on what we already know(top-bottom processing) which may interfere with learning new information or pay attention to nuances in the environment( bottom up processing)
Category is a component of semantic memory which organizes knowledge as a set of related items that are considered somewhat equivalent by our cognitive system.
Concepts is the mental representation of a category, meaning the mental representation of “fish” in our cognitive system.The concepts are coded based on context in which they were learned ( situated cognition) that provides clues and information needed to create them and allow us to combine several categories under a single concept and add new items to an existing category by making an inference (adding from our knowledge to an object/ situation based on its similarity to another object/situation).
What is a prototype? Describe the prototype approach. Define “prototypicality” and “graded structure,” and explain how they are related. Describe the three characteristics of prototypes that differentiate them from nonprototypes.
Your descriptions must include definitions of semantic priming, typicality, and family resemblance.
The prototype approach to Semantic memory of Eleanor Rosch suggests that we organize knowledge by creating Prototypes - a model that represents the most typical form of the category. Other items are compared to the prototype and based on the resemblance we choose whether they belong in the category or not. According to Rosch (1973), items in a category differ from one another by their prototypicality, meaning the extension in which they represent their category. According to Rosch, the items prototypically in a category are not equal and organized in a graded structure from the most representative to the least representative
Prototype items in a category have 3 distinctive characteristics: (1) Prototypes are used as a category example
(2) Prototypes are judged more quickly than non prototypes, after semantic priming.
semantic priming refers to the facilitation of any response when preceded by a semantically related event.( participants were quicker to respond to the word NURSE when it was preceded by DOCTOR than if it was preceded by BUTTER. Although there have been many variations on this task and related tasks, the semantic priming effect is stable, and reveals interesting aspects about the organization of semantic memory.) In terms of the network model, when the first word (or prime word) is presented, it becomes activated and sends spreading activation to the related words through the links. When the target word is presented, it has already been partially activated through spreading activation, and thus requires less time to be completely activated. Semantic priming effects have often been used to test the predictions of network models of semantic memory.
(3) Prototypes share attributes in a family resemblance category. Family resemblance means that items in a concept share at least one similarity with some other items in the concept (common attributes). For example, a car (the most prototypical vehicle) has wheels, moves horizontally, and uses fuel. In contrast, an elevator has relatively few attributes in common with other items.
