Lecture 3 Flashcards
Mental imagery (15 cards)
What is mental imagery?
The experience of “seeing” a stimulus in the absence of actual sensory input; a mental representation of a visual scene or object.
Who defined mental imagery as “a set of representations that give rise to the experience of viewing a stimulus without input”?
Stephen Kosslyn (2005).
What is aphantasia?
A condition where a person lacks the ability to generate mental imagery.
What was the central issue in the Kosslyn–Pylyshyn debate?
Whether mental images are depictive (like pictures) or symbolic/propositional (like descriptions or simulations).
What does Kosslyn’s pictorial theory argue?
Mental images have spatial structure and are processed using the visual system, similar to actual perception.
What experimental evidence supports Kosslyn’s view?
Mental scanning takes longer across longer imagined distances.
Mental rotation takes more time as the angle increases.
Neuroimaging shows visual cortex activation during imagery.
What does Pylyshyn’s symbolic theory argue?
Mental images are descriptive simulations, not spatial pictures; effects like scanning are due to task demands or expectations.
What is mental scanning?
A task where participants imagine scanning across a mental image (e.g., a memorized map), with longer scan times reflecting imagined distances.
What is the mental rotation effect?
Reaction time increases linearly with the angle of rotation between two compared images, supporting the idea of spatial representation.
How do mental images behave in relation to perception?
Mental imagery shows some perceptual effects (e.g., illusions, shape matching), but lacks physical constraints like eye movement.
What evidence challenges Pylyshyn’s position?
Brain imaging shows retinotopic activation (e.g., V1 responds to imagined size).
Neglect patients ignore one side of mental images just like visual space.
What does the Müller-Lyer illusion show about imagery?
the illusion affects both perception and mental imagery, suggesting shared cognitive mechanisms.
What’s the main difference between perception and imagery regarding eye movements?
Real vision involves smooth pursuit eye movements, but imagined motion does not produce the same effect.
What did Slezak (1995) study regarding mental image reinterpretation?
Whether participants can re-interpret a mental image when it’s rotated—results suggest images may not be as objectively “visible” as Kosslyn proposed.
What’s a key takeaway from the mental imagery debate?
Mental imagery may involve both spatial and symbolic representations, and is influenced by knowledge, context, and task demands.
