Psychology
The study of the brain and how it functions, aside from being the ultimate paradox, is the most complex, most challenging branch of science there is. It deals with the most fragile organ of the human body and touches the foundation of human existence. Of its many specifications, cognition evokes the bigger questions, arousing the interests of scientists, theorists, and behavior analysts. There are many theories as to how man processes his response to his environment through thought, experience, and senses. One of which touches the perplexing area of imagery, perception, and their relationship.
The vivid images that humans have been recording ever since their birth are part of the cognition. There are some various experiences that are in line with the mental imagery as well as the perception of the human mind. The brain is the most essential and fragile part of the human body. The brain controls the over-all functions of the body. Moreover, the brain also governs the emotion of any human being.
Though colloquially, emotion comes from the heart, it is actually governed by the hypothalamus. The brain along with the eyes is directly related to mental imagery. The eyes are the organs used in monitoring the outside environment. The optical nerve connects the eyes to the brain that records the images captured by the sensory organ. Perception on the other hand basically refers to the perceive thought of a certain experience. Cognitive mapping is another correlated brain function.
According to Margaret Matlin’s book Cognition, majority of the theorists think that the information obtained from mental images is being stored in the brain as an analog code. This code is a close representation of the object as it exists in the physical reality (Matlin, 1983, p. 212). This analog code approach suggests that mental imagery is a very close relative of perception. In fact, the supporters of this theory believe that the physical features of an object that are perceived by the brain and the mental image of it are processed in a similar fashion. Mental Imagery and Perception are so closely related that the two terms are used interchangeably sometimes.
One of the most convenient ways to examine the potential parallels between perception and imagery is through the rotation analogy. This concept, as demonstrated in Shepard and Metzler’s Research (cited in Matlin, 1983, p. 213), revolves around the idea that a person should be able to rotate a mental image the same way it is done with the physical object.
Now, the results of this research strongly support the analog-code approach. It was observed that people are able to rotate a two-dimensional object almost as quickly as they can rotate a three-dimensional object. This experiment has been replicated multiple times, using different media and various kinds of stimuli.
One other theory suggests that mental images are being stored in the brain in abstract, language-like representation - meaning there is no physical resemblance with the physical object. The propositional code approach is founded by the notion that mental images are closely related to language instead of perception (Matlin, 1983, p. 212). Despite the many researches that were conducted to find evidence in both theories, analog and proposition code approaches seem to be correct in different ways – and for specific cases.
Abstract images theory of the mental pictures is common to children. This can be attributed to an infant that has less control of what they can see but they tend to address the image as patterns. They see their mother as the one that would eventually feed and care for them. The babies recall these vivid patterns along with emotional attachment to the mothers to continually grow. Moreover, abstract patterns concerning to mentality could also be attributed to mental memory or simply memory.
Analog and proposition code approaches may provide different angles to the truth of how mental images are being processed and stored by the brain; either way, both does not require the registration of information through the receptors located in sensory organs. Perception, on the other hand, uses a person’s previously acquired knowledge in order to interpret the stimuli being registered by the senses (Matlin, 1983, p. 209).
In other words, mental imagery relies on top-down processing while perception requires both top-down and bottom-up processing. According to a study conducted by Kosslyn and his colleagues (as cited in Matlin, 1983, p. 225), visual imagery activates the same brain regions that are utilized during visual perception to a range of 70 to 90%.
It has been established that representations of visual imagery somehow resemble that of the visual perception. An effective means to evaluate the resemblance of imagery and perception is through the evaluation of how people processes and stores cognitive maps.
A cognitive map is a mental representation of the geographic information, including the environment that surrounds a person (Shelton & Yamamoto, 2009; Wagner, 2006 as cited in Matlin, 1983). It could be a mental image of your room, your house, your neighborhood. Now, how can cognitive mapping are related to perception?
The concept of cognitive mapping requires a certain environment to be explored and experienced multiple times for it to stick inside someone’s mind. Cognitive maps can be created easily and more accurately if a person perceives it correctly. The key to cognitive mapping is details – details which include all aspects of that particular geographic location.
It is also possible to create a cognitive map of an environment according to other people’s description. Cognitive maps are not necessarily a geographical location. It can also be a setting or an event being described by someone else – possibly in a book.
People may not be aware of it but they use imagery and cognitive maps in many of their tasks on a daily basis. Most of the imageries being used are visual. There are many aspects of the human life that become easier to deal with because of mental imagery. In the field of psychology, imagery is being used to deal with clients who are going through depression, trauma, and stress. Thus, mental imagery can also be used in some aspects such as sports. It is used as a tool to provide focus and increase the athlete’s accuracy of a certain action.
This has been mapped and scientifically studied by many psychologists as well as scientists. The capability of our human brain is definitely a feat. It has been working ever since the day a child was born along with the heart. These three factors can be easily referred to each other because of similar gateway, the brain.
References
Matlin, M. W. (1983). Cognition. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.
