Imagery Flashcards
What is the imagery debate all about?
It is a debate about whether imagery is based on spatial mechanisms such as those involved in perception, or is based on mechanisms related to language, called propositional mechanisms.
Mention an experiment that lead researchers to think that imagery is based on spatial mechanisms, akin to those involved in perception.
Stephen Kosslyn (1973) asked participants to memorize a picture of an object, and then to create an image of that object in their mind and to focus on one part of it. They were asked to look for another part of it, and press a true or false button if the part of the object was actually in their mental image. There were a correlation between the time it took to react and the distance on the actual image.
Stephen Kosslyn (1973) asked participants to memorize a picture of an object, and then to create an image of that object in their mind and to focus on one part of it. They were asked to look for another part of it, and press a true or false button if the part of the object was actually in their mental image. There were a correlation between the time it took to react and the distance on the actual image.
What does this mean?
- Kosslyn took this as evidence for the spatial nature of imagery.
- G. Lea (1975) proposed that participants, while scanning, got distracted by other interesting parts, causing the delay.
Pylyshyn (1973) argues that the spatial experience of mental images is an epiphenomenon. What is meant by this?
The spatial experience of mental images, argues Pylyshyn, is an epiphenomenon - something that accompanies the real mechanism but is not actually part of the mechanism. Mental images, according to Pylyshyn, indicate that something is happened in the mind, but doesn’t tell us how it is happening.
Pylyshyn (1973) argues that the spatial experience of mental images is an epiphenomenon. What does Pylyshyn propose is the underlying mechanism to imagery?
Propositional representation.
What is a propositional representation of imagery, and how does it differ from the spatial representation theory?
A propositional representation is one in which relationships can be represented by abstract symbols, such as an equation, or a statement such as “The cat is under the table”. In contrast, a spatial representation would involve a spatial layout showing the cat and the table that could be represented in a picture.
What is the “consensus”, spatial or propositional representation of imagery?
Spatial.
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