1.1

• Mental imagery


  Creating images in the mind, a fundamental aspect of perception and cognition
• Mental imagery


  • Allows us to process information and survive in our environment
  • Includes perceptual imagery, motoric imagery, and haptic imagery
• Perceptual imagery


  Perceptual experiences without an external source, e.g. picturing a lion roaring
• Motoric imagery


  Mentally rehearsing and processing information from scenes we've experienced
• Haptic imagery


  Mental representations based on the sense of touch, e.g. picturing the texture of sandpaper
• Benefits of mental imagery


  • Can help answer basic questions
  • Can be used to navigate and find one's way
  • Can aid in remembering information
• Method of loci


  A mnemonic device that uses mental imagery to associate information with familiar locations
• Method of loci


  • Involves committing basic knowledge to memory, imagining items as objects, and combining them with existing schemas
  • Older adults benefit more from this technique as their routines and schemas are more established
• Method of story


  A mnemonic device that creates links between images through a thematic story
• Method of story


  • Can be time-consuming to create and remember the story
  • Effectiveness may decline with age as cognitive abilities decrease
• Peg word method


  A mnemonic device that associates new information with a pre-learned set of visual images (pegs)
• The peg word method uses a set of 10 visual images (keys, shoe, tree, door, hive, sticks, gate, line, hen) as pegs to hang new information on
• We have to have the knowledge associated with each one of the objects or each one of the words that we're trying to use in the specific instance
• Success or non-success associated with the story depends on the individual's cognitive abilities
• Peg Word Method


  A technique where we first commit to memory a fixed set of visual images that can be recalled, and then connect new items to be remembered to these 'pegs'
• Peg words

  • 1 is bun
  • 2 is shoe
  • 3 is tree
  • 4 is door
  • 5 is hive
  • 6 is sticks
  • 7 is
  • 8 is gate
  • 9 is line
  • 10 is hen
• Keyword Method


  A technique to recall foreign language words by finding a similar sounding native language word (the 'keyword') and creating a visual image of the keyword interacting with the target foreign word
• The word 'carta' translates to 'letter' in English
• There are two ways of describing mental images: analog code (like maps or moving pictures) and propositional code (series of words or sentences)
• The analog code preserves the relationships between elements of the image, while the propositional code uses more abstract representations
• When scanning a mental image, the time required is directly related to the distance between objects in the image
• People can mentally rotate 2D figures in a way similar to physically rotating them
• The more similar the objects and the less rotation required

  The more accurate and quicker the identification of the objects
• Mental rotation takes time to complete, though not seconds or minutes
• Mental rotation is useful for learning and retrieving information, but the time taken is related to the distance travelled in the mental image