knowledge Flashcards
what is mental imagery
imagining something that is not there
doesnt need to be real or possible
what are mental images for
trying things out
testing hypothesis
solving problems
what is guided imagery
a method of relaxation which concentrates the mind on positive images in an attempt to reduce pain/stress
what can guided imagery be used for
pain management
meditative techniques
phobia and disorder managements
dual code theory
pavio 1971
pavio 1971
dual code theory
what is dual code theory
two codes that allow us to store information
words
mental images
what is the ‘word’ code
words are stored symbolically in a representational unit called ‘lologens’
they are symbols that when put together read and translated, make a word
what is the ‘mental images’ code
mental images are analogues like the physical stimuli to which they refer
photos of the things we are trying to store
stored in a representational unit called ‘imagens’
pavio 1969
provided evidence for dual code theory
evidence for dual code theory
pavio 1969
evidence for dual code theory
study
present words/pictures rapidly to participants
asked to recall freely or in order
it is easier to recall pictures freely but words in order
makes sense because words have a sequence to them
what is the alternative to dual code theory
propositional theory
propositional theory
pylyshyn 1973
pylysyn 1973
propositional theory
what is propositional theory
knowledge is presented as a language called mentalese
it is how concepts engage and work together that matters
images come later
what is deductive reasoning
the process of reasoning from one or more statements to reach a logical conclusion
e.g. can apply the statement “all cars have headlights” to a BMW even if you have never seen a BMW
what is a syllogism
a conclusion that is drawn from 2 given or assumed propositions
what are 2 problems of deductive reasoning
series problems
syllogisms
what are series problems
reviewing a set of statements and arriving at a conclusion not contained in any single statement
what is mental manipulation
operating on an item once you’ve imagined it
what 2 things are functionally equivalent
mental imagery and visual perception
what does functional equivalence mean
being at somewhere gives you the same experience as imagining it
e.g. pub
mental rotation
shepherd and meltzer 1971
shepherd and meltzer 1971
mental rotation
mental rotation
study
have to mentally rotate a figure built out of blocks to match another figure
speed to match figure depends on how many times you need to rotate the figures to match
shows functional equivalence
what is a mental model
an explanation of someone’s thought process about how something works in the real world
mental models may take which 3 forms
images
propositions
mental models
kosslyn
island task
island task
kosslyn
kosslyn’s island task
imagine you are stood at the hut, press a button when you find the swamp.
the speed to scan the island was directly related to the distance between objects
it’s a mental image so should be able to jump around the place
however, we experience functional equivalence
what are the 4 biases we incur when mapping
alignment heuristic
right angle bias
relative-position heuristic
symmetry heuristic
what is the alignment heuristic
align objects mentally to make them straighter
what is the right angle bias
straightens out an image and use 90o angles
what is the relative-position heuristic
people do not accurately distance landmarks
what is the symmetry heuristic
think shapes/buildings being more symmetrical than they actually are
language has what?
features and prototypes
why does language have features and prototypes?
a way of storing info and having a mental representation of that feature
e.g. spikes
whats a negative of language having features?
what would go into the category game or bird?
what is the prototype theory
rather than defining features, there are characteristic features
e.g. dogs have 4 legs but in reality this is not always the case
network model
collins and quillian 1969
collins and quillian 1969
network model
network model
explain
knowledge is stored in a semantic network model
it is organised into a hierarchy
network model
study
asked p’s to “prove an ostrich is an animal” have to follow on hierarchy
results showed response times dependent on position of nodes.
further away nodes mean slower response times
