Imagery

Lecture notes

Phil/Psych 256
Feb. 11, 1997

Images preview:

1.	Representation
		- kinds of imagery
		- visual imagery
		- vision and perception

	Computation
		- rotation, inspection, generation,  
		zooming, scanning ...

2.	Problem solving
		- decision
		- explanation
		- analogy
		- language

	Systems
		- array theory

Q: What is mental imagery?

	A1: visual - pictures in the "mind's eye," 
	e.g., an object, a travel route

	A2: auditory - sounds "in your head," 
	e.g., a  rhyme, a tune, a devil and angel 
	on either shoulder

	A3: olfactory - recollection of smells, e.g., 
	perfume, a turkey in the oven

	A4: gustatory - quality of tastes, e.g., 
	beer, wine, urine

	A5: kinesthetic - motor/muscle 
	movement, e.g., hitting a baseball, 
	unlocking a door

	A6: somatic - body posture, limb attitude, 
	e.g., phantom limbs

	A7: emotional - quality of an emotional 
	state, e.g., surprised, scared, angry, 
	happy

Q: What does visual imagery encode?

	A1: spatial - where things are located in 
	space (egocentric), e.g., 
		- "polar" coordinates
	and how they are oriented, e.g.,
		- the Necker cube
		- staircase

	A2: relational - where things reside 
	relative to each other (perspective 
	independant), e.g.,
		- the cat is on the mat
		- I'm in the bathroom
		- the sun is over the yardarm

	A3: categorical (Kosslyn) - what visible 
	objects are, e.g.,
		- words on an overhead
		- a person (even occluded)
		- a bull (Lascaux)
		- a elipse

Q: How are imagery and perception related?

	A1: they compete for resources in the 
	visual cortex
		- visual buffer (Kosslyn), a 
		"retinotopically" mapped area of the 
		lower visual cortex

		- imagined and viewed objects may 
		compete for attention (Kosslyn), e.g., 
		the mind "wanders" during reading

		- access to associative memory, e.g., 
		stored concepts (Kosslyn)

		- lesion data (Kosslyn), e.g., 
		hemispheric neglect

	A2: they cooperate
		- back projection in recognition 
		(Kosslyn)

		- judgement of size and distance are 
		similar (Kosslyn), e.g., elephant vs. 
		rabbit

		- drawings and diagrams can be used 
		to augment the visual buffer when 
		dealing with an image

Q: How are visual images manipulated?

	A1: perspective
		- rotation (Shepard & Metzler)
		- viewpoint (Arnheim)

	A2: inspection (Kosslyn)
		- zooming (buffer has limited 
		resolution)
		- scanning (overflow)
		- recognition

	A3: activation (Kosslyn)
		- (re-)arranging parts
		- adding
		- subtracting
		- changing shape, size, structure

Midterm:
	- 6-7 questions, one paragraph answers
	- one  essay question, 3-4 paragraphs
	- there will be no trick questions!

Phil/Psych 256
Feb. 13, 1997

Q: How do images help in decision making?

	A1: visual images may represent states of 
	affairs, e.g.,
		- furniture arrangement
		- deciding on groceries to buy
		- following a travel plan (landmarks)
		- typical properties (Kosslyn)

	A2: visual images may anticipate an 
	event perception (Neisser), e.g.,
		- detecting an event 
		(Podgorny & Shepard, Farah)
		- contents of a drawer
		- changing lanes in traffic

	A3: visual images may sometimes be 
	used symbolically (Feynman)

	A4: engineering design (Ferguson)

Q: How about explanation?

	A1: "mental templates" assist object 
	recognition (Leakey)

	A2: changes in shape may reconstruct 
	physical processes (Schick)

	A3: same for changes in relational 
	structure (Hansen, Brain)

	A4: visual analogy may suggest 
	hypotheses about relationship or 
	function (Radinsky, Schick)

Q: How about learning?

	A1: imagery can be used to improve 
	athletic performance (Goss et al.), e.g.,
	baseball, basketball, diving

	A2: imagery allows for reclassification 
	(Finke et al.)

Q: What is the relationship between imagery and language?

	A1: the use of "imagistic" or "concrete" 
	vocabulary  can promote memorization 
	(Paivio)

	A2: certain, basic metaphors seem 
	imagistic in nature (Lakoff), e.g.,
		- get off my back!
		- she's behind on her assignment
		- he's on top of his game
		- that's beneath consideration
		- I'm not into turbo-rock
		- the government policy has made a 
		180 degree turn
		- take a new approach!

Example: Array theory

	Glasgow et al. represent image 
	information with frames, e.g.,

		Frame: Map-of-Europe
			a kind of: map-of-continent
			parts: Sweden at <0,4>
			       Britain at <1,0>
			...

	The frames are projected into working 
	memory (visual buffer) to give visual 
	representation.

	Operations, e.g., zooming, affect the 
	working memory representation.  The 
	system can compare molecular structures.

Review of imagery: 

	1. Database - mental images, esp. visual

	2. Knowledgebase - rotation, inspection, generation,  
	zooming, scanning ...

	3. Goals - decision, explanation, analogy, language

	4. Learning strategies - anticipation, classification

	5. Sound psychological basis - Shepard, Kosslyn, 
	Paivio

Next Week:
	- Reading week (send me a postcard)

The Week after:
	- connectionism
	- Rummelhart

Don't forget:
	- Essay 1 due by 4:00pm, Feb. 28
	- Midterm review, March 4
	- Midterm, March 6, in class
	- outline for Essay 2 due March 6

Further materials

• Psych 306 links
• Computational imagery (Glasgow)