Chapter 7 - Mental Imagery Flashcards
How does perception work in mental imagery?
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
Does it take longer to create visual image or perceive?
Create Image by 1/10 sec
In Shepard and Metzler’s experiment of manipulating line drawings, how was (dependent variable) reaction time influenced?
People’s decision time influenced by amount of mental rotation required to match figures
3D and 2D made no difference
What is analog coding of a mental image?
Propositional coding?
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
Why do deaf people perform better on mental rotation?
Watching narrator make signs and rotating 180 degrees
What parts of the brain are active during mental rotation?
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
How can mental rotation help stroke victims?
By watching rotation of vr figured, they stimulate motor cortex
How much of of the brain does visual imagery activate that perception also activates?
70-90%
What does brain damage in visual cortex cause?
Loss of perception and imagery
No distinguishing colours perceived
No distinguishing imagery in mental image
What did Reed determine about how people store images?
Stored as descriptions in propositional code
Triangles not parallelograms in Star of David
When do people use analog? Propositional?
Simple: Clock hands
Complex: puzzle pieces
How long does it take people to measure between two points in mental imagery?
Angles?
Far - slowly
Nearby - quick
Clock wide - quick
Clock narrow - slowly
How does mental image interfere with mental perception?
More trouble detecting physical stimulus when mental image in same sensory mode
What do vertical lines do for
perception?
What is it called?
Make target more visible if they are on either side.
Mental imagery same effect
Masking effect
How do cognitive skills differ between women and men in meta-analyses?
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
How does imagery affect how quickly people go from one pitch to another?
Cat purring to door slam 4 seconds
Cat purring to police siren 6 seconds
How does musical instrument perception match imagery?
Cognitive representation for timbre of actual instrument similar to imagined musical instrument
What is spatial cognition?
- Our thoughts about cognitive maps
- How we remember the world we navigate
- How we keep track of objects in a spatial array
How can you remember your way back better?
Turn around once in a while
How do cities on maps influence distance estimates?
Longer distance between cities with more intervening cities
How does category membership influence distance estimates?
People shift locations closer to sites belonging to same category
How do borders influence distance estimates?
Further apart
Border bias
What is landmark effect?
People provide shorter estimates to a landmark than non-landmark
What is the 90 degree heuristic?
Angles represented in mental map closer to 90 degrees than reality
