Imagery Flashcards
Mental Imagery
Our ability to mentally recreate perceptual experience in the absence of a sensory stimulus.
Dual-Coding Theory
Paivio, 1971
Human knowledge is represented in two separate systems
Two systems described by the Dual Coding Theory
Non-Verbal (Modality-specific system) & Verbal (Symbolic system, Abstract)
Kosslyn (1994)
Images are depictive representations. Preserve perceptual and spatial information.
Pylyshyn (1973)
Images are descriptive representations. Does not preserve perceptual and spatial information
Shepard and Metzler’s (1971)
Investigated the time it took for individuals to rotate mental images of abstract figures.
Mental Scaling - Kosslyn (1975, 1978)
When things get closer to you, they
appear physically bigger until they fill your entire visual field
Segal & Fusella, (1970)
Evidence for shared perception and mental imagery system from interference
Farah 1985
Imagery can also facilitate perception
Policardi et al., (1996)
Patient TC (damage to both): Both the occipital and temporal lobes are important for visual perception.
Zago et al., (2010)
Patient PB (damage to one): PB was able to perform visual imagery tasks, unlike TC.
Bartolomeo et al., et al., (2010)
Madame D: Imagery facilitated
perception!
O’Craven & Kanwisher (2000)
Imagery and perception activate the same specialized areas of the brain.
(Ganis et al., 2004)
Re-examining brain activity in imagery and perception with newer techniques.
most researchers agree that imagery…
Is a combination of depictive and abstract proposition. Arises from similar brain mechanisms as perception
Picture Superiority Effect
Memory is better when items are stored as pictures compared to words.
The Concreteness Effect
Concrete words are remembered better than abstract words.
Parker & Dagnall (2009)
Participants listened to a list of abstract and concrete words…told they would need to remember them later.
Holmes et al., (2005, 2006, 2008)
Participants listened to short descriptions of possible events with
positive and negative outcomes
Imagery and PTSD
Negative intrusive imagery is a characteristic trait of individuals with PTSD.
this is also true for anxiety and depression
Imagery Rescripting:
A technique to help treat mental disorders linked to abnormal
mental imagery
Galton (1880)
Individuals vary greatly in their ability to create mental images.
Aphantasia
Some people cannot form mental images at all
Hyperphantasia
Those who experience extremely vivid visual imagery.
