Object and spatial imagery: distinctions between members of different professions

In the current research, we took a new approach to examining individual differences in mental imagery that relied on a key distinction regarding visual imagery, namely the distinction between object and spatial imagery, and further examined the ecological validity of this distinction. Object imagers consistently prefer to construct colorful, pictorial, high-resolution images of individual objects and scenes, and spatial imagers prefer to use imagery to schematically represent spatial relations among objects and can efficiently perform complex spatial transformations. To examine the ecological validity of the object versus spatial imager distinction, we examined the object and spatial imagery preferences and skills of groups of professionals.Visual artists, scientists, architects, and humanities professionals completed two types of imagery tests: spatial imagery tests assessing abilities to process spatial relations and perform spatial transformations, and object imagery tests assessing abilities to process literal appearances of objects in terms of color, shape, and brightness. A clear distinction was found between scientists and visual artists: Visual artists showed above average object imagery abilities but below average spatial imagery abilities; whereas, scientists showed above average spatial imagery abilities but below average object imagery abilities. Visual artists tended to be object imagers, and scientists tended to be spatial imagers. Thus, even though both groups use visual imagery extensively in their work, they in fact tended to excel in only one type of imagery.Furthermore, we interviewed the groups of professionals about imagery characteristics and imagery processes that they typically use when work, we had them interpret kinematics graphs and abstract art, and we monitored their eye-movements as they engaged in various perception and imagery tasks. The data revealed various qualitative differences between the professional groups. Both visual artists and scientists reported using imagery in their work. However, visual artists preferred to use object imagery, but scientists preferred to use spatial imagery for their work. Humanities professionals, however, reported less use of imagery. Additionally, visual artists reported that their images were more likely to come as a whole, but scientists reported that their images were generated part-by-part. Visual artist’s images were more persistent, less intentional, and had multiple meanings as compared to scientist’s images. Furthermore, visual artists and scientists interpreted kinematics graphs and abstract art qualitatively differently. Visual artists tended to interpret graphs literally (graphs-as-pictures), but scientists tended to interpret graphs schematically, in abstract way. However, visual artists tended to interpret the abstract art as abstract representations, but scientists tended to interpret abstract art literally, in a concrete way.The finding that professional domain, where work involves extensive use of object or spatial imagery, differentially predicted object and spatial imagery abilities and approaches in processing visual information provides ecological validation of the distinction between object and spatial imagers. Furthermore, these results provide support for the idea of a trade-off between object and spatial imagery abilities (i.e., a person being more effective at using one type of imagery and then tending to use this type of imagery more frequently than and at the expense of the other type of imagery).     

客体相似性对不同认知方式个体视觉工作记忆表征的影响

采用整体检测的变化察觉范式,探讨客体的相似性对客体—空间型认知方式个体视觉工作记忆表征的影响。行为结果显示,在不相似客体的视觉工作记忆表征任务中,客体型者在长延时条件的成绩优于空间型者,而在相似客体的视觉工作记忆表征任务中,两者无差异;ERP结果显示,在不相似客体视觉工作记忆表征任务中,与客体型者相比,空间型者在大脑皮层诱发出更大的负SP。以上结果表明,客体型者比空间型者对不相似客体视觉工作记忆加工具有优势,其潜在机制可能在于,客体型者对不相似客体视觉工作记忆表征时的神经活动效能更高。     

客体相似性对不同认知方式个体视觉工作记忆表征的影响

采用整体检测的变化察觉范式,探讨客体的相似性对客体—空间型认知方式个体视觉工作记忆表征的影响。行为结果显示,在不相似客体的视觉工作记忆表征任务中,客体型者在长延时条件的成绩优于空间型者,而在相似客体的视觉工作记忆表征任务中,两者无差异;ERP结果显示,在不相似客体视觉工作记忆表征任务中,与客体型者相比,空间型者在大脑皮层诱发出更大的负SP。以上结果表明,客体型者比空间型者对不相似客体视觉工作记忆加工具有优势,其潜在机制可能在于,客体型者对不相似客体视觉工作记忆表征时的神经活动效能更高。     

Object‐spatial imagery: a new self‐report imagery questionnaire

A new instrument, the Object‐Spatial Imagery Questionnaire (OSIQ), was designed to assess individual differences in visual imagery preferences and experiences. The OSIQ consists of two scales: an object imagery scale that assesses preferences for representing and processing colourful, pictorial, and high‐resolution images of individual objects and a spatial imagery scale that assesses preferences for representing and processing schematic images, spatial relations amongst objects, and spatial transformations. Across a series of studies, the object imagery scale was significantly correlated with the performance on object imagery tasks; the spatial imagery scale was significantly correlated with the performance on spatial imagery tasks; but neither correlated with measures of intelligence. Additionally, compared to visual artists and humanities professionals, scientists reported higher spatial imagery ratings; however, compared to scientists and humanities professionals, visual artists reported higher object imagery ratings. Thus, the results from the studies supported the predictive, discriminant, and ecological validity of the OSIQ. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A PET meta‐analysis of object and spatial mental imagery

Neuroimaging studies have described the functional neuroanatomy of mental imagery. Taken separately, specific studies vary in the nature of the task used and are limited by statistical power and sensitivity. We took advantage of a multistudy PET database of 54 subjects acquired in our laboratory to reveal the neural bases of spatial versus object mental imagery tasks. Our first goal was to evaluate to what extent the activated foci elicited by both object and spatial studies overlap. A second aim was to compare activations elicited by spatial imagery tasks to those elicited by object imagery tasks. We also explored applying regression analyses to the relationships between the scores on the Mental Rotations Test (MRT) and changes in regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) during spatial and object imagery tasks. This meta‐analysis yielded the following observations: (1) both spatial and object imagery tasks shared a common neural network composed of occipitotemporal (ventral pathway) and occipitoparietal (dorsal pathway) regions and also by a set of frontal regions (related to memory); (2) the superior parietal cortex was more strongly implicated during spatial imagery; (3) object imagery specifically engaged the anterior part of the ventral pathway, including the fusiform, parahippocampal, and hippocampal gyrus; (4) object imagery activated the early visual cortex, whereas spatial imagery induced a deactivation of the early visual cortex; (5) blood flow values in some of the regions noted above were positively correlated with scores on the MRT: the higher the subjects performed on the MRT, the more pronounced the rCBF was in these regions. These results may reconcile some of the apparent discrepancies among previous studies concerning the activation of early visual cortex in mental imagery. They also contribute to a better knowledge of the neural bases of object and spatial mental imagery.     

Eye movements disrupt spatial but not visual mental imagery

It has long been known that eye movements are functionally involved in the generation and maintenance of mental images. Indeed, a number of studies demonstrated that voluntary eye movements interfere with mental imagery tasks (e.g., Laeng and Teodorescu in Cogn Sci 26:207–231, 2002). However, mental imagery is conceived as a multifarious cognitive function with at least two components, a spatial component and a visual component. The present study investigated the question of whether eye movements disrupt mental imagery in general or only its spatial component. We present data on healthy young adults, who performed visual and spatial imagery tasks concurrently with a smooth pursuit. In line with previous literature, results revealed that eye movements had a strong disruptive effect on spatial imagery. Moreover, we crucially demonstrated that eye movements had no disruptive effect when participants visualized the depictive aspects of an object. Therefore, we suggest that eye movements serve to a greater extent the spatial than the visual component of mental imagery.     

The differential contributions of visual imagery constructs on autobiographical thinking

There is a growing theoretical and empirical consensus on the central role of visual imagery in autobiographical memory. However, findings from studies that explore how individual differences in visual imagery are reflected on autobiographical thinking do not present a coherent story. One reason for the mixed findings was suggested to be the treatment of visual imagery as an undifferentiated construct while evidence shows that there is more than one type of visual imagery. The present study investigates the relative contributions of different imagery constructs; namely, object and spatial imagery, on autobiographical memory processes. Additionally, it explores whether a similar relation extends to imagining the future. The results indicate that while object imagery was significantly correlated with several phenomenological characteristics, such as the level of sensory and perceptual details for past events – but not for future events – spatial imagery predicted the level of episodic specificity for both past and future events. We interpret these findings as object imagery being recruited in tasks of autobiographical memory that employ reflective processes while spatial imagery is engaged during direct retrieval of event details. Implications for the role of visual imagery in autobiographical thinking processes are discussed.     

Object imagery and object identification: object imagers are better at identifying spatially-filtered visual objects

Object imagery refers to the ability to construct pictorial images of objects. Individuals with high object imagery (high-OI) produce more vivid mental images than individuals with low object imagery (low-OI), and they encode and process both mental images and visual stimuli in a more global and holistic way. In the present study, we investigated whether and how level of object imagery may affect the way in which individuals identify visual objects. High-OI and low-OI participants were asked to perform a visual identification task with spatially-filtered pictures of real objects. Each picture was presented at nine levels of filtering, starting from the most blurred (level 1: only low spatial frequencies—global configuration) and gradually adding high spatial frequencies up to the complete version (level 9: global configuration plus local and internal details). Our data showed that high-OI participants identified stimuli at a lower level of filtering than participants with low-OI, indicating that they were better able than low-OI participants to identify visual objects at lower spatial frequencies. Implications of the results and future developments are discussed.     

The relationship between self‐reports of imagery and spatial ability

A puzzling question arising from imagery research is why no relationship has been found between self‐reports of imagery and performance on spatial tests thought to require the use of imagery. To investigate this, spatial ability, measured by performance on two spatial tests, was compared with performance on the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (VVIQ; Marks, 1973) and a newly constructed imagery questionnaire. The choice of items and ratings for the new questionnaire was based on Kosslyn's (1980, 1994) theories of the imagery system. Ratings on the new questionnaire consistently correlated significantly with performance on the spatial tests, whereas ratings from the VVIQ did not. The new ratings captured more of the imagery process than ratings of vividness alone, but the largest change depended upon the type of item imagined. Ratings of items of the same type as used on the spatial tests predicted performance on the spatial tests, whereas vividness ratings of items recalled or constructed from long‐term memory did not. Participants can successfully introspect on several different properties of their images, and their ratings do predict performance on tasks thought to require imagery. The large effect of item type raises questions about the predictive value of existing models of the imagery system especially in relation to the role of phenomenological properties of our images.     

Individual differences in visual imagery determine how event information is remembered

Individuals differ in how they mentally imagine past events. When reminiscing about a past experience, some individuals remember the event accompanied by rich visual images, while others will remember it with few of these images. In spite of the implications that these differences in the use of imagery have to the understanding of human memory, few studies have taken them into consideration. We examined how imagery interference affecting event memory retrieval was differently modulated by spatial and object imagery ability. We presented participants with a series of video-clips depicting complex events. Participants subsequently answered true/false questions related to event, spatial, or feature details contained in the videos, while simultaneously viewing stimuli that interfered with visual imagery processes (dynamic visual noise; DVN) or a control grey screen. The impact of DVN on memory accuracy was related to individual differences in spatial imagery ability. Individuals high in spatial imagery were less accurate at recalling details from the videos when simultaneously viewing the DVN stimuli compared to those low in spatial imagery ability. This finding held for questions related to the event and spatial details but not feature details. This study advocates for the inclusion of individual differences when studying memory processes.     

Visual imagery differences and eye movements in the recall of pictures

Groups of vivid and poor visualizers were given a picture memory task. and horizontal and vertical components of the electro-oculogram were recorded. This allowed a detailed investigation of each S’s eye movements in the perception. imagery, and recall phases of the task. The vivid visualizers gave a higher accuracy of recall Eye movement rate was lower in visual imagery than it was in perception, especially in the goup of vivid visualizers. There was some evidence of scanning activity prior to recall, but only if positional cues were provided or if recall was incorrect. No scanning occurred prior to accurate recall unprompted by a positional cue. These results provide no support to the theories of image construction proposed by Hebb (1949, 1968) and Neisser (1967). As suggested by Singer (1966), an absence of eye movement may be a necessary condition for vivid visual imagery.     

Imagery limitations in totally congenitally blind subjects

Research on totally blind subjects performing tasks that involve visual imagery has often shown that they do not behave differently from matched sighted subjects, even when their blindness is congenital. If visual imagery is based on visual perception, such tasks may not required visual imagery. In the present article visual images are considered as representations maintaining some properties of visible objects and constructed on the basis of information from various sources. Owing to the absence of visual experience, the limitations of such representations are explored in a series of experiments requiring memorization of single nouns, pairs of nouns, or triplets of nouns associated with a cue noun. Recall by blind subjects was impaired when multiple interactive images (with noun pairs and triplets) are formed. The poorer recall of blind subjects reflected also loss of order information. Recall was better for both groups with locative noun cues and high-imagery targets.     

Examining the Relation Between Visual Imagery and Spatial Ability Tests

Research evidence indicates that self-report imagery ability is psychometrically distinct from objective, spatial test measures. One hypothesis put forward in the literature to explain this finding is that the nature of the stimulus is important. The aim of this article was to examine the relation between spatial abilities and measures of visual imagery obtained using different types of stimulus material. The main finding was that imagery tasks that required the mental synthesis or transformation of visual forms, such as alphanumeric characters and simple geometric shapes, correlated strongly with tests of spatial ability. In contrast, images of familiar items retrieved from long-term memory did not correlate with spatial test performance. It is argued that tasks that better control the stimuli imagined and the standards used to rate the quality of the image provide more objective measures of imagery ability. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Heart rate variability and respiratory concomitants of visual and nonvisual “imagery” and cognitive style

Attention to visual and nonvisual imagery, elicited by an imagery questionnaire, was studied using both within and between subjects analyses of cardiac and respiratory parameters. Visual imagery was accompanied by more regular interbeat heart rate (HR) and shorter, more stable respiratory cycles than nonvisual imagery. “Visually-oriented” thinkers (visualizers), identified by a word association test, manifested less overall variability in HR than “verbally-oriented” thinkers (verbalizers), as well as less variable HR and respiratory period during visual imagery. Visual and nonvisual imagery differed in HR variability for verbalizers and in respiration period for visualizers. The results are discussed in terms of the concepts of attention deployment, “mental load”, cerebral asymmetry, and stylistic personality differences in cognitive functioning.     

Memory for an imagined pathway and strategy effects in sighted and in totally congenitally blind individuals

The literature reports mixed results on the imagery abilities of the blind, at times showing a difference between sighted and blind individuals and at other times similarities. However, the possibility that the results are due to different strategies spontaneously used in performing the imagery tasks has never been systematically studied. A large group of 30 totally congenitally blind (TCB) individuals and a group of 30 sighted individuals matched for gender age and schooling were presented with a mental pathway task on a complex two-dimensional (5 × 5) matrix. After administering the task, participants were interviewed in order to establish the strategy they used. Results showed that both sighted and TCB may use a spatial mental imagery, a verbal or a mixed strategy in carrying out the task. Differences between the groups emerged only when last location and then entire pathway had to be remembered rather than just the last position, and were clearly affected by the type of strategy. Specifically, TCB performed more poorly than the sighted individuals when they used a spatial mental imagery strategy, whereas the two groups had a similar performance with a verbal strategy.     

Cognitive decline and human (Homo sapiens) aging: an investigation using a comparative neuropsychological approach

Using a comparative neuropsychological approach, the authors compared performance of younger and healthy older adults ages 65 and over on tasks originally developed to measure cognition in animals. A battery of 6 tasks was used to evaluate object discrimination, egocentric spatial abilities, visual and spatial working memory, and response shifting. Older adults performed more poorly than younger adults on tasks that evaluate egocentric spatial abilities, response shifting, and to a lesser extent object recognition. The two groups did not differ for tasks that evaluate spatial working memory and object discrimination. The impairments the authors observed in tasks that evaluate response shifting and object recognition are consistent with those found in canines and primates as well as those found in Alzheimer's disease. The results are consistent with the notion that cognitive processes supported by the amygdala and the orbitofrontal cortex are among the first to decline with increasing age in both humans and animals.     

What is the link between language and spatial images? Behavioral and neural findings in blind and sighted individuals

In order to find objects or places in the world, multiple sources of information, such as visual input, auditory input and asking for directions, can help you. These different sources of information can be converged into a spatial image, which represents configurational characteristics of the world. This paper discusses the findings on the nature of spatial images and the role of spatial language in generating these spatial images in both blind and sighted individuals. Congenitally blind individuals have never experienced visual input, yet they are able to perform several tasks traditionally associated with spatial imagery, such as mental scanning, mental pathway completions and mental clock time comparison, though perhaps not always in a similar manner as sighted. Therefore, they offer invaluable insights into the exact nature of spatial images. We will argue that spatial imagery exceeds the input from different input modalities to form an abstract mental representation while maintaining connections with the input modalities. This suggests that the nature of spatial images is supramodal, which can explain functional equivalent results from verbal and perceptual inputs for spatial situations and subtle to moderate behavioral differences between the blind and sighted.