Mental Imagery is our ability to mentally recreate perceptual experience in the absence of a sensory stimulus.
Perception, without sensation, is a concept in Mental Imagery.
Dual-Coding Theory (Paivio, 1971) suggests that human knowledge is represented in two separate systems:
Non-Verbal (Modality-specific system based on sensory-motor information; Image system)
Verbal (symbolic system, abstract; Language system).
Images in the Non-Verbal system resemble what they stand for and maintain perceptual features of the stimulus they represent.
Information in the Verbal system does not resemble what it stands for.
The Imagery Debate states that people experience mental images and that imagery influences cognition.
Shepard and Metzler’s (1971) investigated the time it took for individuals to rotate mental images of abstract figures.
Researchers have conducted experiments to resolve the imagery debate, including Kosslyn (1978) who found that mental images maintain the spatial characteristics of physical stimuli.
Mental Scanning (Kosslyn, 1973) found that if visual images are analog/depictive codes of physical stimuli, it should take more time to travel longer physical distances than shorter ones.
Pylyshyn (1973) argues that images are descriptive representations, symbolic codes that convey abstract conceptual information and do not resemble the real world.
Mental Scaling (Kosslyn, 1975, 1978) states that when things get closer to you, they appear physically bigger until they fill your entire visual field.
Mental Rotation (Shepard and Metzler, 1971) investigated the time it took for individuals to rotate mental images of abstract figures.
Abstract-Code Terms include
Verbal Representation
Propositional Representation
Descriptive
Amodal Representations
which have no direct connection to the features of a stimulus such as computer code.
Depictive Representation Terms include
Non-Verbal Representation
Analog Representation
Depictive & Modal Representations
which maintain perceptual features of a stimulus such as a photograph.
Descriptive Processing (Pylyshyn, 1973) argues that knowledge is represented propositionally, via the manipulating of cognitive symbols and propositional codes are the only requirement for thought.
Epiphenomenon: a mere by-product of a process that has no effect on the process itself (APA dictionary).
Kosslyn (1994) and Pylyshyn (1973) argue that images are depictive representations, analog codes that maintain perceptual and spatial characteristics of objects.
Neuropsychological study of patients with brain lesions can provide insights into the relationship between perception and imagery.
If imagery is perception without sensation, then it follows that imagery and perception should use similar cognitive mechanisms.
The Concreteness Effect: concrete words are more easily remembered than abstract words.
Winawer et al., (2010) demonstrated that mental imagery can create similar perceptual illusions.
Imagery impacts cognitive functioning and behavioral manifestation, regardless of its nature.
The Picture Superiority Effect suggests that image-based memory uses two codes (images and labels) instead of one (just labels).
Motion aftereffects result when sensory stimulation leads to perceptual overcompensation leading to the illusion of motion in the opposite direction.
Neuroimaging results tend to support shared mechanisms between perception and imagery, although they are not exactly the same.
Damage to a specific area can lead to deficits in one or more cognitive processes.
Kosslyn (1999) found that brain areas involved in planning, cognitive control, attention, and memory showed the most similarity in visual perception and imagery tasks.
Imagery is beneficial to memory, as memory is better when items are stored as pictures compared to words.
There is a lot of evidence suggesting that there is depictive representation of knowledge.
Depression is characterized by persistent feelings of sadness, frequently accompanied by a loss of interest
Is associated with an increase of negative imagery
Specifically suicidal ideation, and a decrease in positive imagery
Easier to imagine, more likely to spontaneously create visual images are remembered better than abstract words, which are harder to visualize and rely only on one verbal code (labels).
Individuals vary greatly in their ability to create mental images, as evidenced by Galton (1880), who asked a group of scientists to describe their breakfast and found some gave vivid descriptions while others reported no mental imagery at all.
Those with hyperphantasia are more likely to occupy a creative profession.
Hyperphantasia is the condition of experiencing extremely vivid visual imagery, although little is known about this population, and it is likely much rarer.
Objective Performance Tasks are another method of measuring mental imagery
Ex. Paper Folding Test (Ekstrom et al., 1976)
Where participants view diagrams of paper being folded and must 'mentally unfold' the paper and identify the placement of the holes
Anxiety Disorders are characterized by intense, persistent, and excessive worrying that interferes with daily life
Are associated with an increase of negative imagery of future events, which can exacerbate anxiety
Negative intrusive imagery is a characteristic trait of individuals with PTSD, involving re-experiencing traumatic events through involuntary and unwanted memories.
Self-Report is a method of measuring mental imagery by asking people to write or explain their imagery experiences, such as the Visual Imagery Questionnaire (Marks, 1973), which assesses vividness of imagery on a 1-5 Likert Scale.
Aphantasia is the inability to form mental images at all
Ex. MX who claimed to have lost all ability to form mental images following heart surgery
Scored as low as possible on the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire
Had his visual cortex and fusiform gyrus inhibited in fMRI
Imagery Rescripting is a technique used to treat mental disorders linked to abnormal mental imagery
Patients are guided through memories of past negative events
Instructed to imagine themselves acting the way they wish they could have during the event