In a 1978 study, Stephen Kosslyn asked his subjects to imagine and animal and then to imagine that they were walking towards it. The goal was to see how close they could get to the animal and still be able to imagine it. They found that similarly to external visual stimuli, the closer they got, the harder it was to discern what the image was. In addition, larger animals were harder to imagine close up than smaller animals (similar to external visual stimuli). These findings supported the spatial representation of imagery).

Mental walk task

When the mind creates visual representations in the absence of external visual stimuli. 

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Holds visual and spatial information (representations). When imagining a scene, solving a puzzle or navigating through familiar territory, the sketch pad is being used.
It controls processes such as:
- visual imagery
- mental rotation

Visuospatial sketch pad

The ability to (mentally) recreate the sensory world in the absence of external stimuli. People can imagine tastes, smells and experiences

Mental Imagery

Vision, also known as visual perception, is the ability to interpret the surrounding environment by constructing a mental representation of the world from light reflected by objects. The physiological components that enable this process are collectively called the visual system. In humans, vision is a particularly well-developed sense.

Vision (Visual Perception)

Goldstein, E. B. (2014). Cognitive psychology: Connecting mind, research and everyday experience. Nelson Education.


Cognitive psychology: Connecting mind, research and everyday experience

Visual imagery

When an objects orientation is shifted, the more it is changed, the more time it takes for someone to recognize the object. This is due to the time it takes to  shift the mental representation of the object.

mental rotation

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, some psychologists believed in Aristotle's idea that "thought is impossible without an image" , while others disagree. Most evidence pointed to thought being possible without imagery and by the 1910s, imagery was not a heavily studied topic in psychology.

Imageless thought debate 

Subjects are asked to create mental images and asked to scan them in their minds.

Mental scanning

- Spatial representations
- Propositional representations

Types of imagery representations

The conceptual peg hypothesis suggests that concrete nouns, which are high-imagery words like 'car' or 'book', are easier to remember than abstract, low-imagery nouns like 'truth' or 'justice'. This is because the mental images created by concrete words act as 'pegs' on which memories can be 'hung'. The text explains this phenomenon by noting that high-imagery words are encoded both visually and semantically, creating a more robust memory.

Conceptual Peg Hypothesis

Vision is essential to the process of learning, as it facilities and encourages many different methods of learning. Much of how humans socialize, learn, and survive is related to the ability to see. Children learn how to read through the visual perception of letters, toddlers perceive objects around them which stimulate them to learn how to interact with objects through touch, and babies begin to learn how to perform many motor skills and socialize through the mimicry of the actions and emotions of adults and peers they see. 

Vision and Learning

Visual impairment is the loss of eyesight to a level that is not fixable through usual means such as glasses. Visual impairment can range from a significant decreased ability to see to blindness, which is the near total or total loss of vision. Visual impairment can be congenital or occur sometime during life. Visual impairment can result from a number of medical disorders such as cataracts and glaucoma, injury to the brain and/or eyes, or infections. 

Visual Impairment

- Inverse projection problem
- Viewpoint invariance
- Helmholtz's Theory of Unconscious Inference
- Principles of perceptual organization
- Regularities in the environment
- Unilateral neglect

Focuses of visual perception

The visual system creates a mental model of the surrounding world, which is crucial for enabling individuals to navigate their physical environment and engage with people and objects within it.

Role of the Visual System in Navigation and Interaction

When you observe a door opening, the image projected onto your retina changes from a rectangle to a trapezoid. However, you continue to perceive the door as a rectangle. Which statement best explains this phenomenon?

The images projected onto the retinas of our eyes are two-dimensional, yet we perceive the world in three dimensions. Analyze the process by which the brain accomplishes this transformation, discussing at least two specific cues it uses to create the perception of depth.

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