Chapter 10: Imagery Flashcards
aristotle on imagery
imagery is central to thought; you can’t think without an image
watson on imagery
imagery doesn’t exist; it’s just over-practiced language
mental imagery
our ability to mentally recreate a perceptual experience in the absence of a sensory stimulus
auditory imagery
mental imagery for auditory information
tactile imagery
mental imagery for tactile information
olfactory imagery
mental imagery for olfactory information
can you create imagery for stimuli you’ve never seen?
yes
who developed dual coding theory
Paivio, 1971
dual coding theory
Proposed that human knowledge is represented by an abstract verbal system and a nonverbal imagery system
abstract code
an arbitrary symbol system in which the symbols don’t resemble their real-life world referent (ex. the verbal system)
Onomatopoeia
a word that resembles the sound it is referring to
analog codes
a way to store information that resembles the physical stimulus being stored
imagery debate
a theoretical debate among cognitive psychologists about whether images are stored as pictures in our mind or as propositions
depictive representations
analog codes that maintain the spatial and perceptual characteristics of physical objects
who argues for depictive representations?
Stephen Kosslyn
descriptive representations
symbolic codes that convey abstract conceptual information and do not resemble their real-world referent
who argues for descriptive representations?
Zenon Pylyshyn
epiphenomena
byproducts of more fundamental cognitive processing
propositions
an idea unit that can be verified as true or false
what theory describes mental images as epiphenomena & propositions
descriptive representations
who used mental scanning
Kosslyn
mental scanning experiment findings
participants memorize a drawing of a map with 7 different landmarks. They were told to visualize one of the landmarks then scan their mental image until they arrived at another landmark. Found that there was a positive linear relationship between scanning time and distance on the image
what theory does mental scanning find evidence for?
Because the number of properties remained constant, Kossly concluded that this could be attributed to depictive representations
mental rotation findings
Found that the more rotated an image was, the longer took to compare them
how quickly can the brain rotate images?
60 degrees/sec
what theory does mental rotation find evidence for?
depictive representations
who conducted mental scaling experiments?
kosslyn
mental scaling findings
Found that when an image was smaller, it was more difficult to search for features, suggesting that imagery is preserving the features of what it represents
what theory does mental scaling find evidence for?
Demonstrates that images are processed similarly to real objects, providing evidence for depictive representation
relationship between perception and imagery
people can mistake their perception for imagery
do auditory and visual perception share the same mechanisms?
visual imagery interferes with visual perception and auditory imagery interferes with auditory perception, supporting the claim that imagery and perception share the same mechanisms
synchronous trials and imagery (Farrah, 1985)
showed participants very faint pictures of either the capital letters T or H or nothing while they were performing a visual imagery task. Found that participants were more accurate at detecting the same letter that they were imagining, demonstrating that imagery can facilitate perception
motion aftereffects
a type of visual illusion that occurs after exposure to motion in one direction in which a static scene appears to move in the opposite direction of the previously viewed movement
motion and imagery (Winawer et al., 2010)
had participants imagine motion in one direction for 60 seconds., found that imaging motion was enough to create a motion aftereffect
effect of visual stimulus detection on imaging
Participants’ ability to detect a visual stimulus decreased when imagining a visual image and stayed the same when imagining an auditory image
falsification
a key principle in science where theories are tested to prove they are false
Reed’s counter-evidence of depictive representations
had participants memorize pictures and indicate whether new figures were part of the original ones based on their memory. Found that accuracy was not consistent for all shapes, indicating that participants may have been storing verbal labels of the shapes
experimenter expectancy
a technique in which an experimenter may unconsciously communicate to participants the expectations about the results, and in turn cause the participants to behave in accordance with their expectations
demand characterisitcs
subtle cues in experimental tasks or instructions that may bias participants’ behaviour
Pylyshyn on Kosslyn’s results
Pylyshyn argued that Kosslyn found a relationship between distance and time in the map experiment because of demand characteristics and experimenter expectancy
experimenter expectancy (Intons-Peterson, 1983)
trained 4 undergraduate research assistants to test participants using mental rotation and image scanning. She told 2 of them that she expected reaction times would be slower for imagery tasks and told the other 2 the opposite. Found that despite the experimenters reading the same script, the results ended up matching the research assistants’ expectations.
Patient TC
suffered from cortical blindness after a car accident left him with damage to his occipital and temporal lobes. As a result, he suffered from similar deficits in both perception and imagery abilities.
patient PB
suffered from cortical blindness following damage to his occipital cortex, but performed normally on imagery tasks.
madame D
suffered damage to a portion of her brain bordering the occipital and temporal lobes due to multiple strokes. Despite visual impairments, her visual imagery remained unimpaired. She could see and copy drawings but was unable to recognize everyday objects.
patients with imagery loss and drawings
They can copy drawings, but can’t draw from memory.
Kosslyn neuroimaging study
used PET to record the activity of cells in V1 while participants were memorizing pictures of black and white stripes. Found that imagining the lines activates V1 just like viewing the lines does. When TMS was used to disrupt the V1 cells, participants were less accurate at making judgments about the lines when viewing and imagining them
Parahippocampal place area (PPA)
a brain region located in the inferior temporal lobe that responds preferentially to scenes of places and buildings
PPA & imagery study
found that the PPA is more active when viewing places and the FFA is more active when viewing faces. The same trend was found for imaging, but the activation was stronger when viewing.
activation of processing areas during imagery
During visual imagery, other non-visual sensory processing areas are deactivated because imagery is more fragile than perception
brain activity during imagery vs. perception
The front of the brain showed the most similarity in activity during visual perception and imagery tasks
imagery vs. perception (Dijkstra et al., 2017)
what distinguishes imagery and perception is that during imagery, higher-level brain areas near the front of the brain send top-down signals to perceptual processing areas near the back of the brain
brain activity and imaging study (Ragni et al., 2020)
showed participants drawings and asked them to imagine them. They were able to accurately predict what participants were imaging based on previously observed brain activity when viewing the objects.
Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs)
Artificial neural nets that are put in competition with each other in which one network (generator network) tries to generate images and the other tries to pick out the artificially generated images from real images (discriminator network)
picture superiority effect
Memory is better when items are stored as pictures compared to words
Paivio
when we see a picture, we automatically create a visual representation and give it a verbal label. When we read a word, we only generate the verbal label
The concreteness effect
occurs when concrete words are remembered better than abstract words because they are easier to imagine visually
concreteness effect study (Parker & Dagnall, 2009)
had participants try to remember both abstract and concrete words while viewing either static visual noise or dynamic visual noise. Found that participants in the DVN condition remembered the concrete and abstract words equally, while SVN participants demonstrated the concreteness effect
is imagery easy to control?
no, it can occur uncontrollably and invasively
imagery vs. verbal processing and emotions
Imagery is more effective at evoking emotional reactions than verbal processing is
what type of imagery is associated with PTSD
PTSD is associated with negative intrusive imagery where people respond as though they are re-experiencing the event
who is more likely to experience intrusive images after negative events
People who score higher on measures of imagery vividness (realer images) are more likely to experience intrusive images after negative events
what type of imagery is linked to anxiety and depression
Anxiety and depression are linked to increased experiences of negative imagery
depression and positive imagery
Depression is linked to a decrease in the vividness and frequency of positive imagery
image rescripting
a technique used to treat anxiety and depression in which patients are guided through memories of past negative traumatic experiences and instructed to imagine their younger selves acting in a way they wish they could’ve during the event
Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (VVIQ)
a self-report questionnaire designed to measure the vividness of a person’s visual imagery
Paper-Folding Test (PFT):
a performance-based objective task in which a person is asked to mentally unfold a piece of paper with a hole in it to determine where the hole would be on the unfolded paper
patient MX
claimed to have lost the ability to form visual images after undergoing cardiac surgery. fMRI revealed that brain areas typically activated during imagery (visual cortex and fusiform gyrus) were inhibited when MX tried to create visual images
Congenital aphantasia
the inability to form mental images in the absence of brain injury
what % of the population is affected by aphantasia?
1-3%
spatial ability in patients with aphantasia
Spatial ability is average or above average
autobiographical memory & facial recognition in patients with aphantasia
Difficulties recalling autobiographical memories and recognizing faces
hyperphantasia
extreme visual imagery
is hyperphantasia or aphantasia rare?
hyperphantasia is rarer than congenital aphantasia
autobiographical memory in patients with hyperphantasia
high autobiographical memory
careers for people with hyperphantasia vs. aphantasia
Those with congenital aphantasia were more likely to be scientists or mathematicians and those with hyperphantasia were more likely to be employed in creative professions
who introduced imagery as a way to improve memory?
The ancient Greeks
vividness
How clearly we can create an image in our mind’s eye
effect of familiarity on vividness
Familiarity may enhance the vividness of mental images
vividness of imagery for musicians
Musicians seem to hear musical imagery more often than non-musicians
does the vividness of imagery vary
yes, the vividness of mental images varies across individuals and contexts
two categories of individual differences in imagery
When recalling past personal events, some people tend to do this primarily with visual images and others with words (visualizers and verbalizers)
visualizers vs. verbalizers for visual imagery
For visual imagery, visualizers and verbalizers don’t differ in their imagery scores
visualizers vs. verbalizers for auditory imagery
for auditory imagery, verbalizers score better than visualizers
exception to dual coding theory
onomatopoeias
is dual coding theory a theory for imagery?
While this theory was useful for thinking about imagery, it was proposed as a theory for how we represent thoughts more generally
Stephen Kosslyn
Imagery is an analogue form of representation (depictive representation theory)
Zenon Pylyshyn
Imagery is a byproduct of a symbolic code (propositional theory)
judgment of muscial tones experiment
Participants were faster at responding when the tone was played by the same instrument.
auditory imagery vs. perception experiment
Found that people were faster at saying that two notes were the same when the perceived timbre was consistent with the hard timbre
fMRI and auditory imagery studies
Found that similar brain areas are active during auditory imagery as during auditory perception.
fMRI and visual imagery studies
showed that visual imagery and perception tasks evoked activity in the primary visual cortex (V1)
2 main forms of evidence against depictive representation
- If imagery is a depictive representation, participants should easily be able to identify components of memorized images, but this isn’t the case.
- There is evidence from patients with brain damage that imagery may not entirely rely on the same neural mechanisms
Highben & Patmer, 2004 imagery and memory experiment conditions
Two practice conditions:
1. Normal performance feedback: play normally through the piece of music
2. Motor-only performance feedback: play through the piece of music without hearing their performance; imagine what it sounds like
Two performance conditions:
1. Auditory-only performance feedback: hear the piece of music, imagine what the movements feel like
2. No performance feedback: imagine what the piece of music sounds like and what the movements feel like
Highben & Patmer, 2004 low on auditory imagery condition findings
memory performance decreases as feedback available at practice decreases
Highben & Patmer, 2004 high on auditory imagery condition findings
auditory imagery compensates for a lack of feedback, not as much of a decrease in performance
what form of imagery is best remembered
Items represented as images are better remembered than those represented as words, but this effect is disrupted after a period of watching dynamic visual noise
imagery and mental health
Negative imagery seems to be linked to the severity of several psychological disorders, including anxiety, depression, and PTSD
synesthesia
A sensory experience in which a stimulus in one sensory modality also invokes a response in one or more other sensory modalities
Chromatesitha
the most common experience among synesthetes where a sound is linked to a particular colour
synesthesia and musical imagery
Participants with chromesthesia and absolute pitch have reported that their chromesthesia aids their memory for specific pitches and music
amusia
Deficits in musical abilities; also called tone-deafness
imagery in patients with amusia
People with amusia have been shown to have deficits in visual/spatial imagery
mental rotation task in patients with amusia
In a mental rotation task, musicians and non-musicians perform similarly, but amusic participants have much greater errors. Those who have more severe amusia make more error
does imagery from different sensory domains interact
yes
