Matlin Chapter 7

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Matlin Chapter 7
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Characteristics of mental images

• Propositional codeabstract, language-like
  representation mental images are just an
  epiphenomenon that happens after real code has
  been used to accomplish task
• Analog codemental images have pictorial
  properties and are used to do tasks

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Experiments

• Mental rotationShepard Metzler takes longer
  to mentally rotate shapes through more degrees of
  rotation
• Mental rotation aging older people take
  increasingly longer than younger with increasing
  degree of rotation

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Experiments

• Image sizeKosslyn elephant or fly study larger
  mental images allow faster answers to questions
  about those images
• Some research had shown better memory for larger
  (presumably more elaborated) mental images

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Experiments

• How do we know mental image size is not just
  experimenter expectancy? Anorexia nervosa
  studyanorexics have overly large mental image of
  own body size
• ShapePaivio clock study asking about angles
  between hands good imagers faster on task than
  poor imagers

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Which has larger angle?

• 1105 vs. 645
• 335 vs. 1155
• 810 vs. 440
• Note the reaction time is based on how similar
  the two angles are the more similar, the longer
  it takes

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Experiments

• Interferencevisual mental images can interfere
  with a visual task motor images can interfere
  with a motor task same brain areas involved
• Ambiguous figuresevidence that image not EXACTLY
  the same as picture e.g., rabbit or duck
  ambiguous figure easier to reinterpret picture
  than image

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Experiments

• Overall pattern simple images probably
  pictorial complex images may encourage another
  form of representation

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Cognitive maps Distance heuristics

• Number of intervening citiesmore intervening
  cities make it seem longer (note mental image or
  looking at actual map)
• Semantic categories objects that belong
  together thought closer together than ones that
  are unrelated (e.g., on vs. off campus)

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Distance heuristics

• Landmarks as destinations distance seems
  shorter when traveling from nonlandmark toward
  landmark than reverse

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Cognitive maps shape heuristics

• Anglestendency to rectangularize things (what
  is shape of this campus? Of NRV Mall?) tendency
  to make intersections 90 degrees even when arent
• Curvessymmetry heuristic remembering figures as
  more symmetrical than they are

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Cognitive maps relative position heuristics

• Rotation heuristicremember things as more
  vertical or horizontal than actually are
• Alignment heuristicremember things as more
  aligned with each other than they really are

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Mental models

• Franklin Tversky orientations with respect to
  our bodywe deal with different dimensions
  differently spatial framework modelvertical
  dimension important, leads to rapid decisions
  about above vs. below front-back next in
  importance and speed right-left last