Mental Images, Maps,

and Propositions
Ebreo, Jeanne Elyanna S.
Outline
Mental Representation of Knowledge
Mental Manipulations of Images
Synthesizing Images and Propositions
Spatial Cognition and Cognitive Maps
I. Mental Representation of
Knowledge

1. External Representations: Picture

Versus Words

Pictures Analogous to the real-world

object it represents
Words Symbolic representations
I. Mental Representation of
Knowledge

2. Mental Imagery

Imagery is the mental representation of

things that are not currently being sensed
by the sense organs.

Guided-imagery techniques for controlling

pain, for strengthening immune responses
I. Mental Representation of
Knowledge

3. Dual-Code Theory: Analogical Images

Versus Symbols

Dual-Code Theory
- We use both images and words for
representing information
- Visual images and words are separate
codes
 Visual imagery interferes with other visual
tasks
Verbal tasks interfere with other verbal
tasks
Visual imagery does not interfere with
verbal tasks
Which of the following tasks
is (are) the hardest one(s)?
Imagine an elephant and at the same time try
to draw a house.

Imagine the definition of elephant and at

the same time write down a definition of
short-term memory.

Draw an elephant and at the same time

provide a definition of short-term memory.
I. Mental Representation of
Knowledge
4.Propositional Theory
- We do not store mental representations in the
form of images; rather our mental
representations more closely resemble the
abstract form of a proposition

Proposition the meaning underlying

a particular relationship among
concepts
I. Mental Representation of
Knowledge
4.Propositional Theory
- We do not store mental representations in the form of
images; rather our mental representations more
closely resemble the abstract form of a proposition

Proposition
- the meaning underlying a particular relationship
among concepts
- Ambiguous figure
I. Mental Representation of
Knowledge
4.Propositional Theory
I. Mental Representation of
Knowledge

5. Declarative knowledge--stateable facts (know that)

6. Procedural Knowledge--implementable processes

(know how)
II. Mental Manipulations of
Images

Functional-equivalence hypothesis
These functionally equivalent images are
analogous to the physical percepts they
represent
II. Mental Manipulations of
Images

1.Mental Rotations
people have the ability to rotate two objects in
their consciousness to decide that they are
actually the same object in different positions.
II. Mental Manipulations of
Images
1.Mental Rotations
II. Mental Manipulations of
Images
2.Image Scailing
Seeing featural details of large objects is easier
than seeing such details of small ones, and we
respond more quickly to questions about large
objects we observe than to questions about small
ones we observe
If imaginal representation is functionally equivalent
to perception, participants also should respond
more quickly to questions about features of
imaginally large objects than to questions about
features of imaginally small ones
II. Mental Manipulations of
Images
3. Image Scanning

-Images, as spatial representations, can be

scanned, much the same as physical
percepts
III. Synthesizing Images
and Propositions
Johnson-Lairds Mental Models

Mental representations may take any of the

three (3) forms:

1. Propositions
2. Mental models
3. Images
III. Synthesizing Images
and Propositions
Johnson-Lairds Mental Models

Mental model
is an overarching term for any sort of concept,
framework, or worldview that you carry around
in your mind
III. Synthesizing Images
and Propositions

Lateralization of function
Right hemisphere appears to be more
proficient in representing and manipulating
knowledge of visiospatial nature, whereas the
left hemisphere appears to be more
proficient in representing and manipulating
verbal and other symbol-based knowledge
IV. Spatial Cognition and
Cognitive Maps
Cognitive maps
-Internal representations of our physical
environment, particularly centering on
spatial relationships
IV. Spatial Cognition and
Cognitive Maps
Creating cognitive maps

Gain increased spatial knowledge

Using three types of knowledge
Landmark (special buildings)
Route-road (procedures to get to one place
from another)
Survey (global map-like view)
IV. Spatial Cognition and
Cognitive Maps
. The drawing on
the right was
produced by a 5-
year old when
asked to draw her
family's 2-story
apartment.
IV. Spatial Cognition and
Cognitive Maps
Influences of semantic and propositional
knowledge on imaginal representations

We have the tendency to enlarge the more

prominent, well-known countries and
diminish the sizes of less well-known
countries
IV. Spatial Cognition and
Cognitive Maps
Sex differences in spatial and related
skills
Women find it easier to remember where
they saw things (spatial-location memory),
whereas men find it easier to do mental
rotations of spatial images

Men tend to perform better on common

tests of spatial skills than do women