Author: Stephen M. Kosslyn
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0195179080
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 257
Book Description
When we try to remember whether we left a window open or closed, do we actually see the window in our mind? If we do, does this mental image play a role in how we think? For almost a century, scientists have debated whether mental images play a functional role in cognition. In The Case for Mental Imagery, Stephen Kosslyn, William Thompson, and Giorgio Ganis present a complete and unified argument that mental images do depict information, and that these depictions do play a functional role in human cognition. They outline a specific theory of how depictive representations are used in information processing, and show how these representations arise from neural processes. To support this theory, they seamlessly weave together conceptual analyses and the many varied empirical findings from cognitive psychology and neuroscience. In doing so, they present the conceptual grounds for positing this type of internal representation and summarize and refute arguments to the contrary. Their argument also serves as a historical review of the imagery debate from its earliest inception to its most recent phases, and provides ample evidence that significant progress has been made in our understanding of mental imagery. In illustrating how scientists think about one of the most difficult problems in psychology and neuroscience, this book goes beyond the debate to explore the nature of cognition and to draw out implications for the study of consciousness. Student and professional researchers in vision science, cognitive psychology, philosophy, and neuroscience will find The Case for Mental Imagery to be an invaluable resource for understanding not only the imagery debate, but also and more broadly, the nature of thought, and how theory and research shape the evolution of scientific debates.
The Case for Mental Imagery
Author: Stephen M. Kosslyn
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0195179080
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 257
Book Description
When we try to remember whether we left a window open or closed, do we actually see the window in our mind? If we do, does this mental image play a role in how we think? For almost a century, scientists have debated whether mental images play a functional role in cognition. In The Case for Mental Imagery, Stephen Kosslyn, William Thompson, and Giorgio Ganis present a complete and unified argument that mental images do depict information, and that these depictions do play a functional role in human cognition. They outline a specific theory of how depictive representations are used in information processing, and show how these representations arise from neural processes. To support this theory, they seamlessly weave together conceptual analyses and the many varied empirical findings from cognitive psychology and neuroscience. In doing so, they present the conceptual grounds for positing this type of internal representation and summarize and refute arguments to the contrary. Their argument also serves as a historical review of the imagery debate from its earliest inception to its most recent phases, and provides ample evidence that significant progress has been made in our understanding of mental imagery. In illustrating how scientists think about one of the most difficult problems in psychology and neuroscience, this book goes beyond the debate to explore the nature of cognition and to draw out implications for the study of consciousness. Student and professional researchers in vision science, cognitive psychology, philosophy, and neuroscience will find The Case for Mental Imagery to be an invaluable resource for understanding not only the imagery debate, but also and more broadly, the nature of thought, and how theory and research shape the evolution of scientific debates.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0195179080
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 257
Book Description
When we try to remember whether we left a window open or closed, do we actually see the window in our mind? If we do, does this mental image play a role in how we think? For almost a century, scientists have debated whether mental images play a functional role in cognition. In The Case for Mental Imagery, Stephen Kosslyn, William Thompson, and Giorgio Ganis present a complete and unified argument that mental images do depict information, and that these depictions do play a functional role in human cognition. They outline a specific theory of how depictive representations are used in information processing, and show how these representations arise from neural processes. To support this theory, they seamlessly weave together conceptual analyses and the many varied empirical findings from cognitive psychology and neuroscience. In doing so, they present the conceptual grounds for positing this type of internal representation and summarize and refute arguments to the contrary. Their argument also serves as a historical review of the imagery debate from its earliest inception to its most recent phases, and provides ample evidence that significant progress has been made in our understanding of mental imagery. In illustrating how scientists think about one of the most difficult problems in psychology and neuroscience, this book goes beyond the debate to explore the nature of cognition and to draw out implications for the study of consciousness. Student and professional researchers in vision science, cognitive psychology, philosophy, and neuroscience will find The Case for Mental Imagery to be an invaluable resource for understanding not only the imagery debate, but also and more broadly, the nature of thought, and how theory and research shape the evolution of scientific debates.
Mental Imagery
Author: Joel Pearson
Publisher: Frontiers E-books
ISBN: 2889191494
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 195
Book Description
Our ability to be conscious of the world around us is often discussed as one of the most amazing yet enigmatic processes under scientific investigation today. However, our ability to imagine the world around us in the absence of stimulation from that world is perhaps even more amazing. This capacity to experience objects or scenarios through imagination, that do not necessarily exist in the world, is perhaps one of the fundamental abilities that allows us successfully to think about, plan, run a dress rehearsal of future events, re-analyze past events and even simulate or fantasize abstract events that may never happen. Empirical research into mental imagery has seen a recent surge, due partly to the development of new neuroscientifc methods and their clever application, but also due to the increasing discovery and application of more objective methods to investigate this inherently internal and private process. As the topic is cross hosted in Frontiers in Perception Science and Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, we invite researchers from different fields to submit opinionated but balanced reviews, new empirical, theoretical, philosophical or technical papers covering any aspect of mental imagery. In particular, we encourage submissions focusing on different sensory modalities, such as olfaction, audition somatosensory etc. Similarly, we support submissions focusing on the relationship between mental imagery and other neural and cognitive functions or disorders such as visual working memory, visual search or disorders of anxiety. Together, we hope that collecting a group of papers on this research topic will help to unify theory while providing an overview of the state of the field, where it is heading, and how mental imagery relates to other cognitive and sensory functions.
Publisher: Frontiers E-books
ISBN: 2889191494
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 195
Book Description
Our ability to be conscious of the world around us is often discussed as one of the most amazing yet enigmatic processes under scientific investigation today. However, our ability to imagine the world around us in the absence of stimulation from that world is perhaps even more amazing. This capacity to experience objects or scenarios through imagination, that do not necessarily exist in the world, is perhaps one of the fundamental abilities that allows us successfully to think about, plan, run a dress rehearsal of future events, re-analyze past events and even simulate or fantasize abstract events that may never happen. Empirical research into mental imagery has seen a recent surge, due partly to the development of new neuroscientifc methods and their clever application, but also due to the increasing discovery and application of more objective methods to investigate this inherently internal and private process. As the topic is cross hosted in Frontiers in Perception Science and Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, we invite researchers from different fields to submit opinionated but balanced reviews, new empirical, theoretical, philosophical or technical papers covering any aspect of mental imagery. In particular, we encourage submissions focusing on different sensory modalities, such as olfaction, audition somatosensory etc. Similarly, we support submissions focusing on the relationship between mental imagery and other neural and cognitive functions or disorders such as visual working memory, visual search or disorders of anxiety. Together, we hope that collecting a group of papers on this research topic will help to unify theory while providing an overview of the state of the field, where it is heading, and how mental imagery relates to other cognitive and sensory functions.
Image and Mind
Author: Stephen Michael Kosslyn
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674443662
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 524
Book Description
Kosslyn makes an impressive case for the view that images are critically involved in the life of the mind. In a series of ingenious experiments, he provides hard evidence that people can construct elaborate mental images, search them for specific information, and perform such other internal operations as mental rotation.
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674443662
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 524
Book Description
Kosslyn makes an impressive case for the view that images are critically involved in the life of the mind. In a series of ingenious experiments, he provides hard evidence that people can construct elaborate mental images, search them for specific information, and perform such other internal operations as mental rotation.
The Distribution and Functions of Mental Imagery
Author: George Herbert Betts
Publisher: AMS Press
ISBN:
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 110
Book Description
Publisher: AMS Press
ISBN:
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 110
Book Description
Principles of Mental Imagery
Author: Ronald A. Finke
Publisher: Bradford Book
ISBN: 9780262525657
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 190
Book Description
Imagery can be used to improve memory, perceptual skills, even creativity. Numerous experiments carried out over the past 20 years have probed the nature of mental imagery and unlocked its powers. Principles of Mental Imagery offers a broad, balanced, and up to date introduction to the major findings of this research and identifies 5 general principles that can account for most of them. It considers the development of experimental techniques that have solved many of the challenging methodological problems inherent in imagery research and includes recent experimental findings not covered in other imagery books.Principles of Mental Imagery brings together work by all of the key imagery researchers, among them Roger Shepard, Stephen Kosslyn, Allen Paivio, Lynn Cooper, Steven Pinker and the author. Chapters present new research on the role that imagery plays in human memory, new findings on how mental imagery influences perception (one of the dominant issues in modern imagery research), recent studies on "representational momentum" experimental demonstrations of how imagery can be used to make creative, visual discoveries, and recent work on imagery deficits in brain damaged patients. And, a new argument is made for why the study of mental imagery should be motivated by general principles, rather than formal models. Each chapter concludes with convenient summaries and suggestions for further exploration.Ronald A. Fluke is Associate Professor of Psychology at Texas A & M University. A Bradford Book
Publisher: Bradford Book
ISBN: 9780262525657
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 190
Book Description
Imagery can be used to improve memory, perceptual skills, even creativity. Numerous experiments carried out over the past 20 years have probed the nature of mental imagery and unlocked its powers. Principles of Mental Imagery offers a broad, balanced, and up to date introduction to the major findings of this research and identifies 5 general principles that can account for most of them. It considers the development of experimental techniques that have solved many of the challenging methodological problems inherent in imagery research and includes recent experimental findings not covered in other imagery books.Principles of Mental Imagery brings together work by all of the key imagery researchers, among them Roger Shepard, Stephen Kosslyn, Allen Paivio, Lynn Cooper, Steven Pinker and the author. Chapters present new research on the role that imagery plays in human memory, new findings on how mental imagery influences perception (one of the dominant issues in modern imagery research), recent studies on "representational momentum" experimental demonstrations of how imagery can be used to make creative, visual discoveries, and recent work on imagery deficits in brain damaged patients. And, a new argument is made for why the study of mental imagery should be motivated by general principles, rather than formal models. Each chapter concludes with convenient summaries and suggestions for further exploration.Ronald A. Fluke is Associate Professor of Psychology at Texas A & M University. A Bradford Book
Mental Imagery in Clinical Disorders
Author: David G. Pearson
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
ISBN: 288945262X
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 108
Book Description
Mental imagery refers to the mental simulation or recreation of perceptual experience across different sensory modalities. The exploration of mental imagery represents a new and important area within clinical psychology, but arguably one still in its infancy. While mental imagery has featured prominently in recent theoretical accounts of disorders as diverse as post-traumatic stress disorder, phobia, body dysmorphic disorder, mood disorders, and psychosis, there remains an insufficiently strong theoretical and methodological foundation to enable comparison of the role of imagery across such different disorders. The current research topic presents a diverse range of cutting-edge papers focusing on investigating the underlying mechanisms and/or treatment interventions associated with mental imagery in clinical disorders, with the goal of helping establish those common elements most clinically relevant when investigating mental imagery. The research topic comprises fifteen articles drawn from the fields of psychiatry, psychology, and neuroscience. This is a unique collection of articles that combine different perspectives from the field of clinical psychology with more diverse perspectives drawn from the wider literature on mental imagery. The original research studies and theoretical articles presented are organised around four main chapters that cover imagery and eye movements, imagery and craving, imagery and autobiographical memory, and imagery and clinical disorders. We believe that the range of submissions presented in the research topic make a strong contribution to helping establish a theoretical and methodological foundation that can enable the effective study of imagery across different disorders and domains.
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
ISBN: 288945262X
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 108
Book Description
Mental imagery refers to the mental simulation or recreation of perceptual experience across different sensory modalities. The exploration of mental imagery represents a new and important area within clinical psychology, but arguably one still in its infancy. While mental imagery has featured prominently in recent theoretical accounts of disorders as diverse as post-traumatic stress disorder, phobia, body dysmorphic disorder, mood disorders, and psychosis, there remains an insufficiently strong theoretical and methodological foundation to enable comparison of the role of imagery across such different disorders. The current research topic presents a diverse range of cutting-edge papers focusing on investigating the underlying mechanisms and/or treatment interventions associated with mental imagery in clinical disorders, with the goal of helping establish those common elements most clinically relevant when investigating mental imagery. The research topic comprises fifteen articles drawn from the fields of psychiatry, psychology, and neuroscience. This is a unique collection of articles that combine different perspectives from the field of clinical psychology with more diverse perspectives drawn from the wider literature on mental imagery. The original research studies and theoretical articles presented are organised around four main chapters that cover imagery and eye movements, imagery and craving, imagery and autobiographical memory, and imagery and clinical disorders. We believe that the range of submissions presented in the research topic make a strong contribution to helping establish a theoretical and methodological foundation that can enable the effective study of imagery across different disorders and domains.
Mental Images in Human Cognition
Author: R.H. Logie
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 0080867340
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 451
Book Description
This book represents the research efforts of individuals whose scientific expertise lies in reflection on what Sartre described as reflective acts. Theory in the cognitive psychology of mental imagery, endeavors not only being able to describe the contents and nature of mental imagery, but also being able to understand the underlying functional cognition. Psychologists need not solely rely on the techniques of introspection, and the last two decades have seen highly creative developments in techniques for eliciting behavioural data to be complemented by introspective reports. This level of sophistication has provided singular insights into the relationship between imagery and other consequential and universal aspects of human cognition: perception, memory, verbal processes and problem solving. The recognition that imagery, despite its ubiquitous nature, differs between individuals both in prevalence and in kind, and the dramatic rise in cognitive science has provided the additional potential for integrating our understanding of cognitive function with our understanding of neuroanatomy and of computer science. All of these relationships, developments and issues are dealt with in detail in this book, by some of the most distinguished authors in imagery research, working at present in both Europe and the USA.
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 0080867340
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 451
Book Description
This book represents the research efforts of individuals whose scientific expertise lies in reflection on what Sartre described as reflective acts. Theory in the cognitive psychology of mental imagery, endeavors not only being able to describe the contents and nature of mental imagery, but also being able to understand the underlying functional cognition. Psychologists need not solely rely on the techniques of introspection, and the last two decades have seen highly creative developments in techniques for eliciting behavioural data to be complemented by introspective reports. This level of sophistication has provided singular insights into the relationship between imagery and other consequential and universal aspects of human cognition: perception, memory, verbal processes and problem solving. The recognition that imagery, despite its ubiquitous nature, differs between individuals both in prevalence and in kind, and the dramatic rise in cognitive science has provided the additional potential for integrating our understanding of cognitive function with our understanding of neuroanatomy and of computer science. All of these relationships, developments and issues are dealt with in detail in this book, by some of the most distinguished authors in imagery research, working at present in both Europe and the USA.
Movement and Mental Imagery
Author: Margaret Floy Washburn
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 282
Book Description
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 282
Book Description
The Neurophysiological Foundations of Mental and Motor Imagery
Author: Aymeric Guillot
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199546258
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 326
Book Description
"This book, the first of its kind, examines three main aspects of mental imagery. Providing a state of the art review of this field of research, along with in-depth reviews, meta-analyses, and research syntheses, this book will be important for those in the fields of cognitive neuroscience, physiology, and rehabilitation." --Book Jacket.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199546258
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 326
Book Description
"This book, the first of its kind, examines three main aspects of mental imagery. Providing a state of the art review of this field of research, along with in-depth reviews, meta-analyses, and research syntheses, this book will be important for those in the fields of cognitive neuroscience, physiology, and rehabilitation." --Book Jacket.
Using Mental Imagery to Enhance Creative and Work-related Processes
Author: Valerie Thomas
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351744968
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 190
Book Description
In Using Mental Imagery to Enhance Creative and Work-Related Processes, Valerie Thomas explores the productive use of mental imagery skills to engage with the processes of creativity. Practical and original, the book offers detailed guidance for a highly effective method that can provide rich insights into the development of a range of creative enterprises, including artistic and work-related projects. In this accessible and innovative book, Thomas pays equal attention to the theory and application of mental imagery. First, she explains how imagination-based methods have been developed and theorised within the discipline of creative behaviour, especially with regard to dual-processing theories of creativity. The book then considers mental imagery as a dialogical method informed by contemporary post-Cartesian theories of embodied cognition that reprise an earlier premodern understanding of imagination as a mediator between body and mind. Thomas introduces a particular approach to mental imagery that, informed by a functional research-informed framework (the Interactive Communicative model of mental imagery), can be applied very effectively to creative processes. The second half of the book provides detailed guidance on how to apply this particular method and is copiously illustrated with case vignettes. It includes chapters on using imagery theorised as conceptual metaphors such as the plant image for representing creative capabilities and the building image for representing creative and work-related projects. It also explains how to use imagery to represent and work with the conceptual processes of undertaking qualitative research projects. This original and wide-ranging book advances the scope and use of creative image-work in diverse settings. It will be an essential resource for everyone who is interested in developing their own mental imagery skills for creative real-world applications and for all professionals such as coaches, therapists and research educators who want to facilitate creativity in others.
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351744968
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 190
Book Description
In Using Mental Imagery to Enhance Creative and Work-Related Processes, Valerie Thomas explores the productive use of mental imagery skills to engage with the processes of creativity. Practical and original, the book offers detailed guidance for a highly effective method that can provide rich insights into the development of a range of creative enterprises, including artistic and work-related projects. In this accessible and innovative book, Thomas pays equal attention to the theory and application of mental imagery. First, she explains how imagination-based methods have been developed and theorised within the discipline of creative behaviour, especially with regard to dual-processing theories of creativity. The book then considers mental imagery as a dialogical method informed by contemporary post-Cartesian theories of embodied cognition that reprise an earlier premodern understanding of imagination as a mediator between body and mind. Thomas introduces a particular approach to mental imagery that, informed by a functional research-informed framework (the Interactive Communicative model of mental imagery), can be applied very effectively to creative processes. The second half of the book provides detailed guidance on how to apply this particular method and is copiously illustrated with case vignettes. It includes chapters on using imagery theorised as conceptual metaphors such as the plant image for representing creative capabilities and the building image for representing creative and work-related projects. It also explains how to use imagery to represent and work with the conceptual processes of undertaking qualitative research projects. This original and wide-ranging book advances the scope and use of creative image-work in diverse settings. It will be an essential resource for everyone who is interested in developing their own mental imagery skills for creative real-world applications and for all professionals such as coaches, therapists and research educators who want to facilitate creativity in others.