Assessing the symbolic distance effect in mental images constructed from verbal descriptions: A study of individual differences in the mental comparison of distances

Acta Psychologica

Volumn 127, Issue 1, 2008, Pages 197-210

  Denis, Michel ^a  

^a CNRS   (France)

Author keywords

Individual differences; Mental comparison of distances; Mental imagery; Spatial configurations; Symbolic distance effect; Verbal descriptions

Indexed keywords

ADULT; ARTICLE; COMPREHENSION; CONCEPT FORMATION; DECISION MAKING; DISCRIMINATION LEARNING; DISTANCE PERCEPTION; FEMALE; HUMAN; IMAGINATION; INDIVIDUALITY; MALE; PROBLEM SOLVING; REACTION TIME; READING; SEMANTICS; SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT; SYMBOLISM;

ADULT; COMPREHENSION; CONCEPT FORMATION; DECISION MAKING; DISCRIMINATION LEARNING; DISTANCE PERCEPTION; FEMALE; HUMANS; IMAGINATION; INDIVIDUALITY; MALE; PROBLEM SOLVING; REACTION TIME; READING; SEMANTICS; SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT; SYMBOLISM;

EID: 36849036860     PISSN: 00016918     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2007.05.006     Document Type: Article

References (56)

1. Afonso A., Gaunet F., and Denis M. The mental comparison of distances in a verbally described spatial layout: effects of visual deprivation. Imagination, Cognition and Personality 23 (2004) 173-182
2. Barsalou L.W. Perceptual symbol systems. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 22 (1999) 577-660
3. Borst G., Kosslyn S.M., and Denis M. Different cognitive processes in two image-scanning paradigms. Memory and Cognition 34 (2006) 475-490
4. Chabanne V., Péruch P., Denis M., and Thinus-Blanc C. Mental scanning of images constructed from visual experience or verbal descriptions: the impact of survey versus route perspective. Imagination, Cognition and Personality 23 (2004) 163-171
5. Dean G.M., Dewhurst S.A., Morris P.E., and Whittaker A. Selective interference with the use of visual images in the symbolic distance paradigm. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 31 (2005) 1043-1068
6. De Beni R., Pazzaglia F., Gyselinck V., and Meneghetti C. Visuospatial working memory and mental representation of spatial descriptions. European Journal of Cognitive Psychology 17 (2005) 77-95
7. Denis M., and Carfantan M. People's knowledge about images. Cognition 20 (1985) 49-60
8. Denis M., and Cocude M. Scanning visual images generated from verbal descriptions. European Journal of Cognitive Psychology 1 (1989) 293-307
9. Denis M., and Cocude M. Structural properties of visual images constructed from poorly or well-structured verbal descriptions. Memory and Cognition 20 (1992) 497-506
10. Denis M., and Cocude M. On the metric properties of visual images generated from verbal descriptions: evidence for the robustness of the mental scanning effect. European Journal of Cognitive Psychology 9 (1997) 353-379
11. Denis M., and Denhière G. Comprehension and recall of spatial descriptions. European Bulletin of Cognitive Psychology 10 (1990) 115-143
12. Denis M., Gonçalves M.-R., and Memmi D. Mental scanning of visual images generated from verbal descriptions: towards a model of image accuracy. Neuropsychologia 33 (1995) 1511-1530
13. Denis M., and Kosslyn S.M. Scanning visual mental images: a window on the mind. Current Psychology of Cognition 18 (1999) 409-465
14. Denis M., and Zimmer H.D. Analog properties of cognitive maps constructed from verbal descriptions. Psychological Research 54 (1992) 286-298
15. Deyzac E., Logie R.H., and Denis M. Visuospatial working memory and the processing of spatial descriptions. British Journal of Psychology 97 (2006) 217-243
16. Finke R.A. Principles of mental imagery (1989), The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA
17. Finke R.A., and Pinker S. Spontaneous imagery scanning in mental extrapolation. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 8 (1982) 142-147
18. Guenther R.K. Human cognition (1998), Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ
19. Gyselinck V., De Beni R., Pazzaglia F., Meneghetti C., and Mondoloni A. Working memory components and imagery instructions in the elaboration of a spatial mental model. Psychological Research 71 (2007) 373-382
20. Iachini T., and Giusberti F. Metric properties of spatial images generated from locomotion: the effect of absolute size on mental scanning. European Journal of Cognitive Psychology 16 (2004) 573-596
21. Kosslyn S.M. Scanning visual images: some structural implications. Perception and Psychophysics 14 (1973) 90-94
22. Kosslyn S.M. Image and mind (1980), Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA
23. Kosslyn S.M. Image and brain: The resolution of the imagery debate (1994), The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA
24. Kosslyn S.M., Ball T.M., and Reiser B.J. Visual images preserve metric spatial information: evidence from studies of image scanning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 4 (1978) 47-60
25. Kosslyn S.M., Margolis J.A., Barrett A.M., Goldknopf E.J., and Daly P.F. Age differences in imagery abilities. Child Development 61 (1990) 995-1010
26. Kosslyn S.M., Pinker S., Smith G.E., and Shwartz S.P. On the demystification of mental imagery. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 2 (1979) 535-581
27. Kosslyn S.M., and Rosenberg R.S. Psychology: The brain, the person, the world (2001), Allyn and Bacon, Boston
28. Likert R., and Quasha W.H. Revised Minnesota Paper Form Board (Series AA) (1941), The Psychological Corporation, New York
29. Marschark M. Semantic congruity in symbolic comparisons: salience, expectancy, and associative priming. Memory and Cognition 11 (1983) 192-199
30. McGonigle B., and Chalmers M. The selective impact of question form and input mode on the symbolic distance effect in children. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 37 (1984) 525-554
31. Mellet E., Bricogne S., Crivello F., Mazoyer B., Denis M., and Tzourio-Mazoyer N. Neural basis of mental scanning of a topographic representation built from a text. Cerebral Cortex 12 (2002) 1322-1330
32. Mellet E., Bricogne S., Tzourio-Mazoyer N., Ghaëm O., Petit L., Zago L., et al. Neural correlates of topographic mental exploration: the impact of route versus survey perspective learning. NeuroImage 12 (2000) 588-600
33. Moyer R.S. Comparing objects in memory: evidence suggesting an internal psychophysics. Perception and Psychophysics 13 (1973) 180-184
34. Moyer R.S., and Bayer R.H. Mental comparison and the symbolic distance effect. Cognitive Psychology 8 (1976) 228-246
35. Noordzij M.L., and Postma A. Categorical and metric distance information in mental representations derived from route and survey descriptions. Psychological Research 69 (2005) 221-232
36. Noordzij M.L., Zuidhoek S., and Postma A. The influence of visual experience on the ability to form spatial mental models based on route and survey descriptions. Cognition 100 (2006) 321-342
37. Paivio A. Imagery and verbal processes (1971), Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York
38. Paivio A. Perceptual comparisons through the mind's eye. Memory and Cognition 3 (1975) 635-647
39. Paivio A. Comparisons of mental clocks. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 4 (1978) 61-71
40. Paivio A. Mental representations: A dual coding approach (1986), Oxford University Press, New York
41. Paivio A. Images in mind: The evolution of a theory (1991), Harvester Wheatsheaf, New York
42. Pazzaglia F., and De Beni R. Strategies of processing spatial information in survey and landmark-centred individuals. European Journal of Cognitive Psychology 13 (2001) 493-508
43. Péruch P., Chabanne V., Nesa M.-P., Thinus-Blanc C., and Denis M. Comparing distances in mental images constructed from visual experience or verbal descriptions: the impact of survey versus route perspective. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 59 (2006) 1950-1967
44. Pinker S., Choate P.A., and Finke R.A. Mental extrapolation in patterns constructed from memory. Memory and Cognition 12 (1984) 207-218
45. Pinker S., and Kosslyn S.M. The representation and manipulation of three-dimensional space in mental images. Journal of Mental Imagery 2 (1978) 69-83
46. Pylyshyn Z.W. What the mind's eye tells the mind's brain: a critique of mental imagery. Psychological Bulletin 80 (1973) 1-24
47. Pylyshyn Z.W. Mental imagery: in search of a theory. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 24 (2002) 157-237
48. Reed S.K., Hock H.S., and Lockhead G.R. Tacit knowledge and the effect of pattern configuration on mental scanning. Memory and Cognition 11 (1983) 137-143
49. Richardson J.T.E. Imagery (1999), Psychology Press, Hove, UK
50. Richman C.L., Mitchell D.B., and Reznick J.S. Mental travel: some reservations. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 5 (1979) 13-18
51. Shepard R.N., and Cooper L.A. Mental images and their transformations (1982), The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA
52. Trojano L., Grossi D., Linden D.E.J., Formisano E., Goebel R., Cirillo S., et al. Coordinate and categorical judgements in spatial imagery: an fMRI study. Neuropsychologia 40 (2002) 1666-1674
53. Trojano L., Grossi D., Linden D.E.J., Formisano E., Hacker H., Zanella F.E., et al. Matching two imagined clocks: the functional anatomy of spatial analysis in the absence of visual stimulation. Cerebral Cortex 10 (2000) 473-481
54. Trojano L., Linden D.E.J., Formisano E., Goebel R., Sack A.T., and Di Salle F. What clocks tell us about the neural correlates of spatial imagery. European Journal of Cognitive Psychology 16 (2004) 653-672
55. Zwaan R.A., and Radvansky G.A. Situation models in language comprehension and memory. Psychological Bulletin 123 (1998) 162-185
56. Zwaan R.A., and Taylor L.J. Seeing, acting, understanding: motor resonance in language comprehension. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 135 (2006) 1-11