Visual Knowledge

Question 1

Visual Imagery

Answer 1

Seeing in the absence of a visual stimulus

Question 2

Mental Imagery

Answer 2

The general ability to recreate the sensory world without physical stimuli.

Question 3

Wilhem Wundt

Answer 3

Proposed three component of consciousness:

• Imagery
• Sensation
• Feelings

Question 4

True or False

Watson (a behaviourist) consider the idea of studying imagery as irrelevant since these “images” could only be perceived by their creator and so it was impossible to study them!

Answer 4

True!

But recently we have found many ways to study imagery:

• Paired Associate learning task
• Conceptual Peg Hypothesis
• Mental Chronometry

Question 5

Paired Associate Learning Task

Answer 5

Allan Pavio used memory to study imagery. He claimed that it was easier to remember concrete nouns because they could be imagined.

Question 6

Conceptual Peg Hypothesis

Answer 6

This is another theory to explain how pairs of concrete words were remembered. In this theory, the second word “hangs” to the image of the first word.

For example, if you have Three-boat, you can imagine a Three with a boat on top.

Question 7

Mental Chronometry

Answer 7

Here we would take the total time that it took the participants to complete a task. For example, if the participants were shown 2 3D figures and they were asked if they were the same figure, the participants would take longer to answer if the rotation of the figure was greater. Thus, participant were mentally rotating the figure.

This is called Shepard and Metzler Mental Rotation.

Question 8

Mental Scanning Method

Answer 8

In this experiment by Kosslyn, participants were asked to memorize and image. Once the image was removed, participants were asked to focus on one aspect of the image as a starting point. Participants were then asked to focus on divers focus points among which some were real and some didn’t. Participants had to say which were real and which weren’t.

Kosslyn’s hypothesis was that if two focus points were really far from each other, the participants would take longer to answer and he was right!

Question 9

Spatial Mechanisms in Imagery

Answer 9

Imagery based on perception.

Question 10

Imagery neurons

Answer 10

Neurons that react to a visual stimulus of a precise object AND to the mental image of that same object.

Question 11

Differences between Imagery and Perception

Answer 11

• Perception is automatic while imagery requires effort

Question 12

True or False

Imagery Improves your memory.

Answer 12

True

Highly imaginable words are encoded twice: dual encoding.

There is al many more retrieval pathways.

Question 13

Paivio suggested two memory systems

Answer 13

• Symbolic
• Imagery-based

However, this was found not to be true. This was proved by many many studies.

Question 14

Cognitive Maps

Answer 14

The hippocampus is important in the creation of cognitive maps.

Question 15

Hippocampus Place Cells

Answer 15

Cells that fire when presented a specific location.

Question 16

Grid cells in the Temporal Lobes

Answer 16

Cells fire as the animal moves. This allows it to understand its position in space, and storing and integrating information about location, distance and location in a grid-like manner.

Question 17

Head direction cells

Answer 17

Cells indicate the direction in which the animal’s head is pointing.

Question 18

What knowledge is used to create cognitive maps?

Answer 18

• Landmark knowledge: certain points in space about which we know distance and position.
• Rout-road knowledge: knowledge about the different pathways to get somewhere. This can come from a map or because we have been to the location before.
• Survey Knowledge: estimated distance between landmarks.

Question 19

Heuristics in Cognitive Maps

Answer 19

People tend to overestimate the distance to get to a non-landmark than when they are travelling to a landmark. Moreover, the distance estimated increases proportionally to the number of landmarks that there is in between the starting point and the destination.