Video Module 23: Mental Imagery

Question 1

What is a representation? How is the study of cognitive psychology related to representations?

Answer 1

Representations are things which stand for other things; they are models of the things they represent.
- A representation is a representational system that encompasses what is representing, what is represented, and the connections between both.
- Cognitive psychology is the study of what we represent about the world.

Question 2

mental imagery

Answer 2

the mental representation of things that are not currently being sensed by the sense organs, or things that we’ve never sensed
- imagery can apply to any modality, not just images

Question 3

What do mental images share with pictures?

Answer 3

1. mental images preserve metric spatial information: e.g. relative size, distance, geometry of an image
2. mental images change with viewpoint: we can imagine something from different perspectives
3. empty space is explicitly represented: we explicitly represent the distance between 2 items
4. we use spatial attention for mental imagery

Question 4

the analog viewpoint (mental imagery)

Answer 4

the perspective on mental imagery that visual mental images are analogous to pictures
- mental images are functionally equivalent to pictures
- championed by Kosslyn

Question 5

the propositional viewpoint (mental imagery)

Answer 5

the perspective on mental imagery that mental representations are non-pictorial abstract concepts that make us feel as though we are experiencing mental images as pictures
- mental images are descriptions
- championed by Pylyshyn

Question 6

chronometric studies

Answer 6

studies of mental imagery which rely on response times for various tasks as a way of inferring whether or not we treat mental images like pictures
- rotation tasks: how long it takes to rotate the object
- scaling tasks: how long it takes to identify features of an image
- scanning tasks: how long it takes to travel a distance within the image

Question 7

types of tasks for studying mental imagery

Answer 7

1. mental rotation
2. scaling mental images
3. scanning tasks

Question 8

What do mental rotation tasks reveal about mental imagery?

Answer 8

Mental rotation tasks measure how long it takes a participant to mentally rotate an object or identify the correct rotation of an object.
- Shepard & Metzler (1971) found that the reaction time for participants to rotate an object increases linearly with the angle of rotation for that object;
- mental rotation is analogous to real rotation in that the larger the angle of rotation, the longer it will take to participants to rotate an object
—observed even when participants aren’t asked to use mental imagery

Question 9

What do scaling tasks reveal about mental imagery?

Answer 9

Scaling tasks for mental images typically ask participants to imagine a particular object next to other objects, in which participants either imaging the particular object next to a different bigger or smaller object.
- Kosslyn (1975) made a study where participants either imagined a rabbit next to a bee or next to an elephant, then answer yes/no questions about the features of the rabbit.
—Participants who imagined the rabbit next to the elephant had a longer response time than participants who imagined the rabbit next to the bee; this suggests that mental images preserve size
- The participants’ response time differed based on the amount of detail they initially pictured for the rabbit; those who imagined the rabbit next to the elephant likely had a “zoomed out” picture of the rabbit to accommodate the elephant

Question 10

How does using mental imagery change what stands out to us about a concept? In other words, what characteristics do we think are distinct when we use mental imagery versus when we do not?

Answer 10

When we use imagery to think of an object, we feel that the most prominent features/attributes of that object are those that are largest (take up the most space)
When we do not use imagery, we feel that the most prominent features/attributes of an object are those that are most distinct (aka characteristic) for that object
- e.g. Kosslyn (1976) conducted a study with both college students and 4th graders in which he asked them to answer questions about the features of a cat. Participants were either asked to use imagery or not.
—Those who used imagery were faster at responding to questions if the attribute was larger in their mental representation (e.g. body)
—Those who did not use imagery responded faster if the question was about a distinctive feature (e.g. claws).

Question 11

What do scanning tasks reveal about mental imagery?

Answer 11

Scanning tasks are those which require participants to move their attention around a mental image
- Generally, participants take longer when asked to mentally scan longer distances
—If you have to move your attention “farther” across the image, then it takes longer
- mental images explicitly represent empty space
- Kosslyn et al. (1978) did a study which asked participants to memorise a map and locations on the map; participants were asked to mentally move their attention from different locations and press a button when they finished
—Found that distance in the map (cm) linearly increases with reaction time of participants

Question 12

How are mental images like pictures?

Answer 12

1. We preserve relative size: we can zoom in and out of mental images; while using mental imagery for an object, we are faster to identify larger features than smaller ones
2. We preserve relative location: the time it takes for us to shift our attention from one part of a mental image to another is proportional to actual distance; time it takes for us to mentally rotate objects is proportional to the degree of rotation