Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises, Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not. Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices That, if I then had waked after long sleep, Will make me sleep again: and then, in dreaming, The clouds methought would open and show riches Ready to drop upon me that, when I waked, I cried to dream again. CALIBAN, The Tempest, III, ii

Imagery What is darker, the red of an apple or a strawberry? What is the color of envy? What is directly below the window of your bedroom? What angle do the hands of a clock make at 9:00 pm? How may degrees does the minute hand of a clock travel between 6:00 pm and 6:30 pm? What city is more West, San Diego or Las Vegas

Imagery Imagery simulates perception Imagery incorporates language based knowledge Imagery incorporates heuristics or best guesses

Imagery: A Little History Binet 1880’s –Based on patients with brain damage, he suggested that imagining a movement draws on motor processing, imagining a form or a color draws on object recognition or color systems. Introspectionists –Equipped with stopwatches and fountain pens, tried to time how it takes for an image to come to consciousness. –Argued if one could think about a thing without conjuring its image –If memories using imagery lasted longer than those that did not. Imagery was treated as one homogeneous ability in a host of complex processes from chess games (Cleveland, 1907) to helping children learn to read (Hill, 1918).

Imagery: A Little History the Perky Effect – In the now classic study, CW Perky (1910) asked participants to imagine an object (a banana) while fixating onto a blank screen. At the same time unbeknownst to the participant, an image of that object was gradually projected onto the screen, with increasing intensity, starting below the threshold for conscious perception. –The projected stimulus influenced the subjects’ experience so that their images changed according to the picture they were presented with. –They all continued to believe the they were just imagining the stimulus when the intensity was above threshold, for example they remarked the banana was vertically and not horizontal as they originally imagined, or imagined an elm leaf when they first started with a maple.

Imagery Demo Are these balloons identical?

Imagery Demo Are these balloons identical?

Imagery Roger Shepard and the Isomers The object below is an isomer

Imagery Theories Dual Coding Hypothesis –There are two codes in the brain, one verbal and one visual based Propositional Theory –The visual and verbal symbols are propositions Depictive or Functional Equivalency –Imagery and perception recruit the same processes

DEMO TIME! Picture you are dot on the letter F Imagine traveling along the pathway You are going to be asked to imagine traveling along the pathway and stating whether the corner you reached is on the top or the bottom Start

Demo Time! Please memorize the following sentence A bird in the bush is not in the hand You are to go through each word, in order, and tap your right hand if the word is noun, and your left if it is not

Demo Time Please read through the words in this box out-loud Please point to each “YES” in order Yes No

Evidence for Dual Code Theory Paivio compared concrete words (potato, horse) with abstract words (justice, love) Found participant were better able to recall concrete words Concluded that dual code was created for concrete words (analog & verbal label) but not for abstract words

Additional Evidence for Dual Code Visual information has different characteristics than verbal code –Visual information interferes with spatial information –Verbal labels interfere with spoken words –Shows each type of code is affected by different manipulations

Evidence for Dual Code Theory Brooks (1968) –One group saw a block diagram of a letter –Memorized it –Were asked to mentally travel the letter and indicate if the corner was on the extreme top or bottom Start

Evidence for Dual Code Theory Brooks (1968) cont. –Second group saw a sentence –Memorized it –Were asked to classify each word as a noun by indicating "yes" or "no" –Verbal task A bird in the hand is not in the bush

Evidence for Dual Code Theory Brooks (1968) cont. Participants were then asked to respond in one of two ways –Say “Yes” or “No” –Point to the answer “Yes or No” –Why was this important? Yes No

Evidence for Dual Code Theory Brooks (1968) Results TaskVerbalPointing Letter Diagrams 11.3 sec.28.2 sec. Sentences 13.8 sec.9.8 sec. For letter task, RT was slower when pointing. For the sentence task, RT was slower for the verbal response. This provides evidence for two types of codes being used.

Propositional Theory Do not store in form of images Instead have a “generic” code that is called “propositional” –To imagine a ball on top of a box would require a string statement: ON (BALL, BOX) Stores the meaning of the concept Create a verbal or visual code by transforming the propositional code

Propositional Imagery Demo Imagine a die standing on one of its corners, and draw it. What color does a red light and a green light make? Imagine a straight line rotating 90 o. Imagine a cross rotating 90 o

Depictive or Functional Equivalency Imagery Same brain areas are involved in perception and imagery

Depictive Imagery Demo

Depictive or Functional Equivalency Imagery Memorize map Later ask to scan image Manipulate distance between items in scan –Hut to grasses –Lake to Hut Measure reaction time

Depictive or Functional Equivalency Imagery Linear relationship between the distance to scan and actual reaction time of participants –Mental images are internal representations that operate in a way that is analogous to the functioning of the perception of physical objects

Evidence for Depictive Imagery Linear displacement (e.g., Island) Scaling (e.g., Rabbit Elephant) Deficits in perception parallel deficits in imagery Visual Fill Imagery scanned for previously unrecognized details

Evidence for Depictive Imagery Figure 1. Degradation in visual fill due to homonymous hemianopia, the surgical removal of a portion of the visual cortex. Patients report that the size of the visual image experienced decreases in proportion to the amount of tissue removed. Visual Fill

Evidence for Depictive Imagery Look at the image below Did you see the sparrow? Did you see the goose?

Depictive Imagery: Tricks you can do with a Brain! Inspect Compose Resolution Transformation

Imagery of the Hemispheres (Apologies to Galileo) The “Coordinate-Categorical Specialization” Theory –Left Hemisphere specializes in Categorical (on, in, beside, above, below…) –Right Hemisphere specializes in Coordinate (3 ft., 45 o, 10 lbs…)

Imagery of the Hemispheres Do the hands of a clock make an angle bigger or smaller than 60 o ? –12:01 –11:56 –8:27 Are both hands above or below the midline? –10:03 –9:05 –6:34

Imagery of the Hemispheres Show a clock they can see Show a digital time they have to imagine as a clock

Imagery of the Hemispheres A small advantage for coordinate processing in the RH.

Be Here Now Please draw a map that shows the cities of L.A., San Francisco and Reno, NV.

Be Here Now Please Draw a map of the world.

Sports Visualization

Sports Imagery Three purposes –Skill –Strategic –Motivational

Sports Imagery Initial learning Hypothesis –Mental practice should have its greatest impact at the initial verbal-motor stage of learning Psychoneuromuscular Hypothesis –The muscles fire at a low grade level of the same pattern during the mental practice as the physical practice. Attentional Hypothesis –mental practice can aid ignoring distracters and prime attention on important cues and at important junctions in performance.

Sports Imagery The same imagery task will be used differently by athletes of different levels. Visualizing yourself practicing a skill will be… –motivational when you are a novice –Skill-building as an intermediate –Strategy-building or attentional as an expert