Imagery and Perception

Question 1

Kosslyn boat study

Answer 1

Memorize picture of boat, create an image of it
Result: longer reaction time to check “longer distances” in image

Question 2

Lea critique

Answer 2

Maybe it isn’t that you take longer to scan further, but maybe it’s because of the way Kosslyn set up the boat and there’s distracting things in between where you’re looking

Question 3

Kossyln island rebuttal

Answer 3

Island with 7 locations, 21 trips from one island to another
Some trips longer than others
Result: still took longer to scan between longer distances
Supports idea that visual imagery is spatial like actual visual perception

Question 4

Kossyln zoom experiment: viewing distance, detail perception, and visual imagery

Answer 4

Imagine two animals (ex: rabbit/elephant or rabbit/fly)
Zoom in or out until larger animal fills visual field
Then ask questions about rabbit features
Result: faster reaction time when rabbit was “large” vs. “small”

Used technique of mental walk

Question 5

Mental walk

Answer 5

“Zoom in” in imagination
Supports idea that images are spatial, like perception

Question 6

Perky

Answer 6

Projected faint images, participants imagined same object
Reported images closely resembled projected ones
Participants didn’t realize projected images were present
Images and actual visual stimuli seem similar

Question 7

Farah

Answer 7

Participants imagined “H” or “T”, then either H or T actually presented
Accuracy affected by what you were imagining
Better performance when imagined image matched actual stimulus