Mental Imagery (chpt.7) Flashcards
Mental Imagery
refers to the mental representation of stimuli when those stimuli are not physically present in the environment
Visual Imagery
the mental representation of visual stimuli
Image size (elephant, rabbit,fly) control: Experimenter expectation tell experimenter “y” will occur when you expect “X”
Auditory Imagery
mental representation of auditory stimuli
STEM Disciplines
science, technology, engineering, and mathematics
Analog Code
is a representation that closely resembles the physical object
Propositional code
is an abstract language like representation storage is neither visual nor spatial and it does not physically resemble the original stimulus propositional code approach mental imagery is a close relative of language not perception
Modern Functionalism
the computer metaphor
Propositions vs. Analog images
Analog images are not like the way a computer
Kosslyn’s Theory
surface representations are always analog, deep representations (cf.LTM) some analog, some propositional
when using mental imagery the back part of the brain is activated in PET, FMRI, ERP scans
Cognitive Maps
More propositional than analog evidence distance estimates are influenced by the number of intervening cities on memorized maps the semantic similarity of close locations
is a mental representation of geographic information, including the environment that surrounds us
Hueristics
mental tricks (“rules of thumb”) are likely propositional angles and curves are normalized people visualize it as curvy when they draw it out
is a generalproblem solving strategy that usually produces a correct solution but not always
Map Rotation
Is reno or san diego further west ? reno Alignment is Rome or Philadelphia further North? rome
Mental Models
Making mental models from verbal descriptions spatial judgements easiest to most difficult above/below, back,front left or right
Prosopagnosia
cannot recognize human faces visually, through they perceive other objects relatively normally
Experimenter expectancy
The researchers biases and expectations influence the outcomes of the experiment
Demand Characteristics
are all the cues that might convey the experimenter’s hypothesis to the participant
Meta-analysis
is a statistical method for combining numerous studies on a single topic
Pitch
is a characteristic of a sound stimulus that can be arranged on a scale from low to high
Timbre
describes the sound quality of a tone
Spatial Cognition
primarily refers to three cognitive activities
1) Our thoughts about cognitive maps
2) How we remember the world we navigate
3) How we keep track of objects in a spatial array
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
Landmark effect
general tendency to provide shorter estimates when traveling to a landmark
90 degree angle heuristic
represent angles in a mental map is being closer to 90 degrees than they really are
Rotation Heuristic
is a figure that is slightly tilted will be remembered as being either more vertical or more horizontal than it really is
Alignment Hueristic
a series of separate geographic structures will be remembered as being more lined up than they really are
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
Situated cognition approach
we make use of helpful information in the immediate environment or situation our knowledge depends on the context that surrounds us
