Describe at least two experiments that demonstrate that we use images. Why might the results of the distance (“Island”) experiment be caused by participants tacit knowledge? Describe an experiment that supports this counter claim (lecture only!).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The correct answer and explanation is:<\/strong><\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n Correct Answer:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Two classic experiments that demonstrate that we use mental images are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Island experiment<\/strong> suggested that people use mental images to scan across visual representations in their minds. However, critics argue that the results could be due to tacit knowledge<\/strong>\u2014participants unconsciously using knowledge or expectations about real-world spatial relationships, not actually visualizing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An experiment supporting the counterclaim<\/strong> (that people are truly using imagery and not just tacit knowledge) is the visual field size experiment<\/strong> (Kosslyn, 1975) presented in lecture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Explanation (300 words):<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Cognitive psychology has provided strong evidence that people use mental images in thinking. Two well-known experiments illustrate this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first is the Mental Rotation<\/strong> experiment by Shepard and Metzler (1971). Participants were shown pairs of 3D block figures rotated at different angles. They were asked if the two figures were the same or different. Results showed that the more one figure had to be mentally rotated to match the other, the longer it took participants to respond. This suggests people were mentally rotating the image in real time, indicating that mental imagery behaves like physical images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The second experiment is Kosslyn’s Island Experiment (1978)<\/strong>. Participants memorized a detailed map with various landmarks. After memorizing it, they were asked to imagine the map and mentally \u201ctravel\u201d from one landmark to another. The time it took to “scan” from one landmark to another was proportional to the distance between them on the original map. This supports the idea that people use spatial imagery in their minds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, critics argue this result may stem from tacit knowledge<\/strong>\u2014participants could be using prior knowledge or assumptions (e.g., \u201cit takes longer to travel longer distances\u201d) instead of true mental imagery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To counter this, Kosslyn (1975)<\/strong> conducted a visual field size experiment<\/strong> (lecture-only). Participants imagined a rabbit next to either an elephant or a fly. When the rabbit was next to the fly (appearing larger in the mental image), participants answered questions about its features faster than when it was next to an elephant (appearing smaller). This supports that people mentally \u201csee\u201d images with size and detail, undermining the tacit knowledge argument\u2014because relative size here influences mental processing, just as it would with a real image.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Describe at least two experiments that demonstrate that we use images. Why might the results of the distance (“Island”) experiment be caused by participants tacit knowledge? Describe an experiment that supports this counter claim (lecture only!). The correct answer and explanation is: Correct Answer: Two classic experiments that demonstrate that we use mental images are: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-quiz-questions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gaviki.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gaviki.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gaviki.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gaviki.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gaviki.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16413"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gaviki.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16413\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16416,"href":"https:\/\/gaviki.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16413\/revisions\/16416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gaviki.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gaviki.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gaviki.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
\n\n\n\n