week 7, chapter 11.visual imagery

Question 1

imagery =”mental pictures”

spatial or visual imagery types.

Answer 1

When do the following tasks:
a) memorise a fictional map, then asked to picture moving from A to B, time taken, is proportionate to “distance” in the image
b) picture a cat, more prominent features (eg the head) are usually more prominent, BUT when asked to think about a cat unique features such as claws and whiskers, become more prominent.
c)3d images, can be asked to rotae them to align correctly. Response time is greater, the further rotation required to align.
Even with “mind’s eye” are able to represent concepts in different ways.
Imagery is representative of accurate spatial layout.
There are some people who cannot seem to do this.

Question 2

Demand Character

Answer 2

cues which signal how one is “supposed” to behave during an experiment (most people naturally try to accomodate to experimenter’s wishes (which may be unstated, or what think experimenter wants)

Question 3

TEST YOURSELF

1. what is a chronometric study?
2. Why do image-scanning studies indicate that images DEPICT a scene, rather than DESCRIBING it?
3. what does it mean to say that an experiment’s results might be influenced by demand character?

Answer 3

1. measures time eg time taken to perform a task.
2. because if ask person to describe their image, is an extra interpretative step-ie highly variable and hard to measure, but if tasked to do something (which can be measured-eg response time), then can be accurate in comparing one to another.
3. a response may have been given purely “to please”, and the response may have been different without such cues.

Question 4

resources

Answer 4

Forming a visual mental image interferes with seeing, and forming an auditory mental song, interferes with hearing etc (ie resources shared)

Question 5

Binocular rivalry

Answer 5

where 2 different visual stimuli are presented (one to each eye). Often in this situation, cannot perceive both, but switch b/n the 2. If however also visualise a pattern which is same as one actual visual stimuli, will only be able to see this one.

Question 6

TEST YOURSELF

What is the evidence that visual imagery relies on some of the same mental processes as actual vision?

Answer 6

a) fmri shows activity in same areas (pattern holds for other imaginings also eg movement-sensitive brain areas active during perception/imagining movement and facial recognition area active during perceiving/imagining faces etc
b) to try to do both, is very hard (competes for resources)

Question 7

Can we tell what a person is imagining?

Answer 7

By calibrating fMRI activities whilst visualising certain objects, can then, using computer programming, “tell” what someone is imagining.

Question 8

Visual Imagery and Brain Disruption

Answer 8

Has been shown that if have damaged a brain area, such that one cannot perceive (eg colour or neglect syndrome etc), will have the SAME deficit when try to visualise this (eg colour etc).

Question 9

Blind since birth individuals

Answer 9

have same ability for imagery but must be requested eg as “exploring a sculpture with one’s hands”. It is arguable as to whether this is only spatial imagery which they actually have. (spatial as opposed to visual imagery).

Question 10

either spatial or visual imagery?

Answer 10

Seems that different brain areas are involved in either type. In some brain damage, may lose spatial imagery but not visual, or vv.

Question 11

TEST YOURSELF

1. What do we learn from the fact that some forms of brain damage have SIMILAR effects on a person’s ability to see AND perform many visual imagery tasks?
2. What do we learn from the fact that some forms of brain damage have DIFFERENT effects on a person’s ability to see and perform imagery tasks?

Answer 11

1. Shared locus of activity damaged

2. eg spatial imagery tasks use different part of brain to vision.

Question 12

Individual imagery ability

Answer 12

There are some people who are “not good” at visual imagery, and some who are “not good” at spatial imagery. There is a correlation between self reports of how vivid one’s visualisation is, and how active certain areas of the visual cortex are (more active= more vivid).
Those good at visual imagery, are more likely to be artistic.
Non-imagers are less likely to say they can “re-live” events.

Question 13

Aphantasia

Answer 13

Inability to employ visualisation.

Question 14

Eidetic Imagery

Answer 14

Genuinely exquisite detail in recalling an image. A person with this skill=an eidetiker. An eidetiker is extremely rare. Most with fantastic memories are great with recall, but not actually truly holding a detailed image in their mind.

Question 15

Percept

Answer 15

One’s own representations (in one’s mind), of the perceived stimulus. eg Necker cube-you can “hold” the image either one way or the other in your mind, not both (at least not at once).
A percept, whilst accurate, will lack ambiguity.
People have great difficulty in re-interpreting their percepts, even though they may depict images which were originally ambiguous.
Research shows that even if ‘think” you have a perfect design in our head, are better able to see issues and make altreractions if is drawn, as opposed to in head only.

Question 16

images in the mind ARE NOT EQUAL to pictures

Answer 16

because images in the mind have some in-built level of interpretation, which is not easily separated from it.

Question 17

Long-term visual memory

Answer 17

Seems that images are stored in parts, and those requiring more parts, are harder to maintain.
Imager has control over how detailed or not, image is.
Long -term visual info may be storedas propositions (in a lingual, non-visual format).
A study showed people basic imageswith labels;asked to draw them and people automatically embellished and adjusted their drawings to look MORE lie the label, insted of perfectly copying the image. (diff label could be used for images).(only shown 1 label).

Question 18

Spatial positioning long term memory

Answer 18

eg spatial positioning of eg cities, in one’smind, seems also language-based as opposed to visual, as seem to REASON which is further North or west etc based on knowledge of which country or coast is near etc, instead of visualizing exact map etc.

Question 19

imagery and memory

Answer 19

Imagery has been shown to aid memory, but needs to be imagery with action.
Has been shown that words which more easily evoke an image, are easier to remember (eg. words such as church or elephant easier to remember than words such as context or virtue).
Imagery can also help to remember things by enabling placing in logical order. eg imagine events, in order on a timeline.
has been shown that if have eg left spatial neglect, tend to have difficulty remembering past events and easier at remembering future events. (would be natural to think of sequences on a timeline by placing “now” centrally, and past on left and future on right).
Whilst imagery can be useful to aid memory, it may not give contextualisation, and so can lead one astray also.
Is best used for very specific visual objects, or with actions.

Question 20

Dual Coding

Answer 20

thought that high imagery words can be accessed in memory via either verbal (symbolic)or imagery (visual)nodes. (therefore more likely to be able to recall).
Seems visual memory has both symbolic and visual images. These 2 types of memory may differ somewhat.
It is easier to acces the visual memory by being cued to the pathway eg. Easier to recall visual symbolic memory by being prompted “ do you know the word …”
whereas easier to access image-based visual memory by asking”do you recognise this picture …?”
Both symbolic visual and imagery-based visual memory seem to operate on similar principles to standard memory, and respond to priming and memory connections in the same way. Both also seem subject to schema, and natural editing occurs to correct to “normal”.

Question 21

Boundary Extension

Answer 21

in picture memory, people usually naturally extend the borders, so in later recall, background has been extended etc.

Question 22

TEST YOURSELF

1. what evidence suggests that visual information is often stored in long-term memory via a representation that’s not really “visual”?
2. What’s the evidence that imagery can help you to memorize?

Answer 22

1. words may evoke. words that are more “visual” easier to remember. imagery cannot be re-interpreted, whereas a picture can be. Map etc seem to use reason of where things are as opposed to rmembering strict latitude and longitude
2. more easily remember more visual words. recall aided by action in imagery,

Question 23

Long term visual memory

Answer 23

seems to operate similarly to long term memory, and assumedly smell or touch memory operates similarly, but these are yet yo be determined.

Question 24

Working visual memory

Answer 24

requires its own specific operations eg scanning, rotating, zooming etc.