Chapter #7 / Session #7

Question 1

What is Mental imagery?

Answer 1

Mental imagery (also called imagery) refers to the mental representation of stimuli when those stimuli are not physically present in the environment.

Question 2

Are imagery and perception identical/the same thing?

Answer 2

No, while imagery and perception share many characteristics, they are not identical.

Question 3

Mental imagery is ___.

Answer 3

knowledge-driven

Question 4

What is an analog code?

Answer 4

An analog code is a representation that closely resembles the physical object.

Question 5

What is the analog-code approach?

Answer 5

According to the analog-code approach, mental imagery is a close relative of perception. When you look at a sketch of a triangle, the physical features of that triangle are registered in your brain in a form that preserves the physical relationship among the three lines. Those who support analog coding propose that your mental image of a triangle is registered in a somewhat similar fashion, preserving the same relationship among the lines. Under this framework, when you are engaged in mental imagery, you create a mental image of an object that closely resembles the actual perceptual image on your retina.

Question 6

The majority of theorists believe that information about a mental image is stored in an ___.

Answer 6

analog code

Question 7

What is a propositional code?

Answer 7

A propositional code is an abstract, language-like representation; storage is neither visual nor spatial, and it does not physically resemble the original stimulus.

Question 8

What is the propositional-code approach?

Answer 8

According to the propositional-code approach, mental imagery is a close relative of language, not perception.

For example, when you store a mental image of a triangle, your brain will register a language-like description of the lines and angles. Theorists have not specified the precise nature of the verbal description. However, it is abstract, and it does not resemble English or any other natural language. Your brain can then use this verbal description to generate a visual image.

Question 9

The ___ is activated when people work on tasks that require detailed visual imagery. This is the same part of the cortex that is active when we perceive actual visual objects.

Answer 9

primary visual cortex

Question 10

What is Prosopagnosia?

Answer 10

People with prosopagnosia cannot recognize human faces visually, though they perceive other objects relatively normally. These individuals also have comparable problems in creating visual imagery for faces. The research shows that these individuals also cannot use mental imagery to distinguish between faces.

Question 11

Visual imagery activates between about ___ and ___ of the same brain regions that are activated during visual perception.

Answer 11

70% // 90%

Question 12

It seems likely that people often use a(n) ___ code when they are thinking about fairly simple figures (like the two hands of a clock). In contrast, people may use a(n) ___ code when the figures are more complex

Answer 12

analog // propositional

Question 13

___ (and a propositional code) may be especially helpful if the visual stimulus is complex.

Answer 13

Verbal labels

Question 14

Visualizers produce more activity in ___ regions of cortex, regions that are strongly implicated in processing visual information.

Answer 14

occipital

Question 15

Verbalizers produce more activation in areas often associated with linguistic processing, such as ___.

Answer 15

frontal cortical areas

Question 16

What are Demand characteristics?

Answer 16

Demand characteristics are all the cues that might convey the experimenter’s hypothesis to the participant.

Question 17

What is Meta-analysis?

Answer 17

Meta-analysis is a statistical method for combining numerous studies on a single topic

Question 18

What is a cognitive map?

Answer 18

More specifically, a cognitive map is a mental representation of geographic information, including the environment that surrounds us.

Question 19

What is Spatial cognition?

Answer 19

Spatial cognition primarily refers to three cognitive activities:
(1) our thoughts about cognitive maps;
(2) how we remember the world we navigate; and
(3) how we keep track of objects in a spatial array.

Question 20

People tend to be ___ in judging their ability to find their way to unfamiliar locations.

Answer 20

accurate

Question 21

True or False: Your metacognition about your spatial ability is reasonably correct.

Answer 21

True

Question 22

What is survey knowledge?

Answer 22

The relationship among locations that we acquire by directly learning a map or by repeatedly exploring an environment.

Question 23

Research confirms that judgments are easier when your mental map and the physical map have ___.

Answer 23

matching orientations

Question 24

What is a heuristic?

Answer 24

A heuristic (pronounced “hyoo-riss-tick”) is a general problem-solving strategy that usually produces a correct solution … but not always.

Question 25

What is border bias?

Answer 25

According to a phenomenon called 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.

Question 26

What is the landmark effect?

Answer 26

The landmark effect is the general tendency to provide shorter estimates when traveling to a landmark—an important geographical location—rather than a nonlandmark.

Question 27

What is the rotation heuristic?

Answer 27

We remember a slightly tilted geographic structure as being either more vertical or more horizontal than it really is.

Question 28

What is the alignment heuristic?

Answer 28

We remember a series of geographic structures as being arranged in a straighter line than they really are.

Question 29

What’s the difference between the Rotation Heuristic and the Alignment Heuristic?

Answer 29

The rotation heuristic requires rotating a single coastline, country, building, or other figure in a clockwise or counterclockwise fashion so that its border is oriented in a nearly vertical or a nearly horizontal direction. In contrast, the alignment heuristic requires lining up several separate countries, buildings, or other figures in a straight row.

Question 30

What is the spatial framework model?

Answer 30

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.

Question 31

What is the situated cognition approach?

Answer 31

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. As a result, what we know depends on the situation that we are in.