L2: Mental Imagery

This module overviews research on mental imagery spanning three centuries. Read Chapter 2 from the textbook, attend class and view slides, and complete the quiz and/or writing assignment by the due date.

Goals

  • Introduce research on mental imagery
    • Historical and current perspectives
    • Individual differences in mental imagery
    • The mental imagery debate
  • Read a classic paper on mental imagery and memory

Instructions

Work through each of the following Read, View/Watch/listen, and Engage sections. You have the full week to complete any quizzes or assignments for this module.

Read

Textbook Chapter: Mental Imagery

Discusses historical and current research on mental imagery.

What is mental imagery and how does it work? Two major topics include individual differences in mental imagery and the mental imagery debate.

Reading time: 35-40 minutes

Read

Imagery experiment

Complete the memory experiment on Canvas (under Modules > L2) before class!

View/Watch/Listen

There is one slide deck for this module, and a tutorial on reading a paper by Dr. Crump.


L2: Slides

Tutorial

Read a paper Marks (1973)

25 mins

Engage

When you are ready, complete any or all of the following assignments.

  1. QUIZ: Complete the L2: Mental Imagery quiz
  2. WRITING: See options below, submit on Canvas!
  3. REFLECT: Submit a meme for the Memer of the Semester contest on Canvas (1 extra credit point for winner at the end of the semester)

Submit your work by the due date posted on Canvas. Then, move on to the next learning module.


Writing Option 1: React to a Many Minds podcast

This assignment engages you with the world of aphantasia via a podcast. Your task is to listen to the Many Minds podcast, When the mind’s eye can’t see and reflect on what you learned from the podcast. In your reflection, you must discuss 3 things you learned that you did not know and whether that has changed your view of how you or other people imagine/visualize. You should write a minimum of 250 words, but feel free to write more. Submit your document on Canvas by the due date.

Writing Option 2: Introspect on your own mental imagery

This assignment engages you in the process of introspection. Your task is to assess your mental imagery abilities using the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (VVIQ) and describe your general experience with the questions. Attempt to answer the following kinds of questions. What is your mental imagery like? Did you agree witht the assessment the VVIQ provided? Do you have mental imagery for different kinds of senses? Is your mental imagery vivid and life-like or very different from normal perception? How would you describe your mental imagery?

You should write a minimum of 250 words, but feel free to write more. Submit your document on Canvas by the due date.

Writing Option 3: Answer two short answer questions

Answer the following questions:

  • Paivio conducted a series of experiments investigating the role of imagery in remembering paired associates. One experiment you participated in involved eliminating the possibility of pre-existing associations between words and testing whether different combinations of concrete/abstract pairs are differently remembered.

    • State the independent and dependent variable(s) from this experiment.
    • State the main finding from the experiment and draw a graph that illustrates the main pattern that Paivio found.

  • Why is the study of individual differences important? Consider the debate in mental imagery. In your response, describe the main ideas behind the imagery debate and how studying individual differences can be useful in resolving the debate.