1. Ψ
Cognitive Psychology
Spring 2005
-Discussion Section-

2. Perception
&
Imagery

3. Cognitive functions Perception Imagery Perception Attention Memory
Emotion
Motivation
Action
Attention
Memory
Imagery
Decision-making
Reasoning, problem-solving
Language

4. Perception
What we perceive is NOT a exact copy of the external world, it is a selective RECONSTRUCTION.
It is a MENTAL REPRESENTATION.
(of aspects of the external world)

5. One final demo

6. Perception
Our visual system makes assumptions in order to perceive the world around us.
Studying perceptual illusions, we can get at the assumptions that our visual system makes

7. Why assumptions?

8. Perception
Fundamental Reason 1: Duham-Quine Paradox
time I

9. Perception
Reason: Limited Sampling. Inference with limited information.  „Aliasing“. Needs assumptions to disambiguate.

10. Really true?

13. Imagery
Some demos...

14. The Problems: Too subjective, idiosyncratic Too introspective
Too qualitative

15. High stakes...
Stephen Kosslyn, John Lindsley Professor of Psychology at Harvard University

16. Mental scanning
Kosslyn, Ball & Reiser (JExP, 1978)

17. The imagery debate(s) „No!“ „Yes!“
„Do mental representations of images retain the depictive properties of the image itself?“
Zenon Pylyshyn
„No!“
„Yes!“
Stephen Kosslyn

18. The propositional perspective
Pylyshyn: !?

19. The arguments Mental images represented by relations between symbols
(language-like)
Mental images represented in analogous form
(vision-like)
Distortions by labels, heuristics
Demand characteristics
Computer metaphor
„Spatial equivalence“
„Perceptual equivalence“
„Transformational equivalence“
Moot point 1: Anderson (PsycRev,1978): RT not diagnostic due to Representation/Process tradeoffs, emulating both.
Moot point 2: Representation = Process. Need to look at neurophysiology for the CODE. 70s thinking. Artificial distinction

20. Resolution 1 - Paradigm
„Visual mental imagery activates the same areas as visual perception“
(Kosslyn, et al., JCogNeuro, 1993)

21. Resolution 1 – Paradigm
„Visual mental imagery activates the same areas as visual perception“
(Kosslyn et al., JCogNeuro, 1993)

22. Resolution 2
„Visual mental imagery activates many visual areas, INCLUDING V1“
(Kosslyn et al., Nature 1995; Kosslyn et al., Science 1999)

23. Current state: Perception: Classically bottom up: Imagery: Top down!
Retina  LGN (Thalamus)  V1  V2  V4  IT  ?  …  ?  Frontal cortex
Imagery: Top down!
Basically the same systems:
Frontal cortex  ?  …  ?  IT  V4  V2  V1.

24. Shepard
The grand old man of cognitive psychology

25. Shepard & Metzler (Science, 1971)
Mental rotation
Shepard & Metzler (Science, 1971)

26. Mental rotation
Issue?
The nature of mental representations? Can they be manipulated like one would expect from the laws of physics? Does the internal world follow the principles of the external world (it doesn´t have to!)

27. QALMRI Q: A L M R I P

28. Exam review
Purpose of early exam?
To scare you into studying. You can´t wing it.

29. Exam review
Format:
6 essay questions. All of the themes are represented (Intro, Attention, Perception1, Perception2, Imagery).
10 Multiple Choice Questions.
1 Bonus Question.

30. Attention:
*Explains many things and nothing. A theoretical fudge factor. Equals “trophic factors”.
*There are many models, all of them fail to capture essentials of the phenomenon. Prominent: Treismans Attenuation theory, Broadbents early selection theory.
*Most useful to think of as a variable filter that generates mental representations for action selection.
*There are processes that are automatic, others need attentional resources. They reflect a tradeoff.
*Attention involved in many phenomena: Visual Search, Popout, Change blindness, etc.

31. Key concepts to know (and understand)
Early vs. late selection
Automated vs. controlled processing
Stroop effect
Visual search, Popout
Attenuated thresholds
Cocktail party phenomenon
Shadowing
Response selection
Change blindness

32. Perception:
*Perception is the formation of a mental representation of the environment.
*This representation is NOT isomorphic, but subject to many correspondence errors.
*To overcome the inherent ambiguity in sensory data, the brain makes assumptions about the world. (Learnt in phylogeny, ontogeny). Like Gestalt rules.
* These assumptions can be uncovered by research with visual illusions.

33. Key concepts to know Gestalt rules of perception
Bottom-up and top-down processing
Mental representation
Assumptions/Illusion connection
Principles of Object, Depth, Motion perception
Principles of Categorization
Geons
Failures of perception: Different Agnosias

34. Imagery:
*Activation of a mental representation from memory. In ABSENCE of a stimulus.
*Paradigmatic case of TOP-DOWN processing.
*Debate between Pylyshyn and Kosslyn whether mental representation in imagery analog or propositional. (Since 30+ years!)
*Most brain areas active in perception are also active in imagery.

35. Key concepts to know Analog vs. propositional representation
Imagery Debate Kosslyn vs. Pylyshyn
a) Models
b) Arguments
c) Behavioral Evidence
d) Neuroscience Evidence
Kosslyn: Free lunch implication
Mental rotation

36. Good luck!