Chapter 7 - Mental Imagery

Question 1

How does perception work in mental imagery?

Answer 1

Sensory information is registered, features are detected in bottom up, info processed in more complex ways until robust representation of stimulus arises, matched to info in long-term
Rely on what you know

Question 2

Does it take longer to create visual image or perceive?

Answer 2

Create Image by 1/10 sec

Question 3

In Shepard and Metzler’s experiment of manipulating line drawings, how was (dependent variable) reaction time influenced?

Answer 3

People’s decision time influenced by amount of mental rotation required to match figures
3D and 2D made no difference

Question 4

What is analog coding of a mental image?

Propositional coding?

Answer 4

Mental image resembles image perceived on retina
Storage neither visual nor spatial, does not resemble stimulus. Language-like. Pylyshyn said analog needs huge storage
3d manipulation favours analog
Imaging favours analog. Cortex lights up
Ambiguous figures favour propositional

Question 5

Why do deaf people perform better on mental rotation?

Answer 5

Watching narrator make signs and rotating 180 degrees

Question 6

What parts of the brain are active during mental rotation?

Answer 6

With hands first - primary motor cortex
By machine first - no activation of pmc

Receiving instructions to rotate - right frontal and parietal lobes
Receiving instructions to imagine rotating for different perspective - left temporal and motor

Question 7

How can mental rotation help stroke victims?

Answer 7

By watching rotation of vr figured, they stimulate motor cortex

Question 8

How much of of the brain does visual imagery activate that perception also activates?

Answer 8

70-90%

Question 9

What does brain damage in visual cortex cause?

Answer 9

Loss of perception and imagery
No distinguishing colours perceived
No distinguishing imagery in mental image

Question 10

What did Reed determine about how people store images?

Answer 10

Stored as descriptions in propositional code

Triangles not parallelograms in Star of David

Question 11

When do people use analog? Propositional?

Answer 11

Simple: Clock hands
Complex: puzzle pieces

Question 12

How long does it take people to measure between two points in mental imagery?
Angles?

Answer 12

Far - slowly
Nearby - quick
Clock wide - quick
Clock narrow - slowly

Question 13

How does mental image interfere with mental perception?

Answer 13

More trouble detecting physical stimulus when mental image in same sensory mode

Question 14

What do vertical lines do for
perception?
What is it called?

Answer 14

Make target more visible if they are on either side.
Mental imagery same effect
Masking effect

Question 15

How do cognitive skills differ between women and men in meta-analyses?

Answer 15

Verbal close to zero
Math close to zero
Spatial ability 4 (small) 3 (moderate) 1 (large)
Mainly mental rotation
Can be reduced by providing girls with training

Question 16

How does imagery affect how quickly people go from one pitch to another?

Answer 16

Cat purring to door slam 4 seconds

Cat purring to police siren 6 seconds

Question 17

How does musical instrument perception match imagery?

Answer 17

Cognitive representation for timbre of actual instrument similar to imagined musical instrument

Question 18

What is spatial cognition?

Answer 18

1. Our thoughts about cognitive maps
2. How we remember the world we navigate
3. How we keep track of objects in a spatial array

Question 19

How can you remember your way back better?

Answer 19

Turn around once in a while

Question 20

How do cities on maps influence distance estimates?

Answer 20

Longer distance between cities with more intervening cities

Question 21

How does category membership influence distance estimates?

Answer 21

People shift locations closer to sites belonging to same category

Question 22

How do borders influence distance estimates?

Answer 22

Further apart

Border bias

Question 23

What is landmark effect?

Answer 23

People provide shorter estimates to a landmark than non-landmark

Question 24

What is the 90 degree heuristic?

Answer 24

Angles represented in mental map closer to 90 degrees than reality

Question 25

What are Tversky’s heuristics?

Answer 25

1. We remember a tilted geographic structure more vertical or horizontal than reality (rotation heur)
2. We remember a series of geographic structures as being arranged in a straighter line than they really are (alignment heur)

Question 26

In Franklin and Tversky’s cognitive map experiment, how quickly did people remember orientation?

Answer 26

1. Above and below quickest
2. Ahead or behind
3. Right or left

Question 27

Why is vertical dimension most important to creating cognitive maps?

Answer 27

Correlated with gravity

Assymetric so easy to tell apart