Abstract: In the previous chapter, I gave a conceptual analysis which implied that one should distinguish carefully between the phenomenal experience of mental imagery and a form of mnemonic representation which might be produced by the use of mental imagery in learning. I would now like to extend this idea by proposing a theoretical distinction between what may be called the constructive and the elaborative uses of mental imagery. First, mental images are symbolic representations which may be maintained over a definite period of time and which may be manipulated in various ways. It is therefore reasonable to suggest that mental imagery constitutes a non-verbal, short-term, working memory in which information may be pictorially represented and spatially transformed. Second, mental images are symbolic representations which may be evoked by the presentation of verbal information to be remembered over an indefinite period of time. In this case, the use of mental imagery may be regarded as a way of elaborating or qualitatively transforming the material to be learned, and it is therefore reasonable to suggest that mental imagery constitutes an elaborative form of coding in long-term memory. Most of the original research on the nature and function of mental imagery was concerned with its elaborative role in long-term memory, but more recently a 'second generation' of experimental research has been concerned with operations on mental images in immediate memory (Anderson, 1978).
Publication Year: 1980
Publication Date: 1980-01-01
Language: en
Type: book-chapter
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 1
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