Mental imagery is a common theme in research that clarifies how musical thought relates to musical performance. Unfortunately, minimal information exists regarding mental imagery and singers. The purpose of this study was to probe the role, if any, mental imagery plays in the conceptualization of pitch and vowel. By interviewing singers at differing levels of expertise, basic information was obtained about the mental processes used by singers. Through evaluations of the singers' mental processes, it was concluded that 95% of the singers in the study employed mental imagery. All singers described using kinesthetic imagery, while the majority implemented sensory and auditory imagery. Viso-spatial imagery was implemented among the more experienced singers. The majority of singers also reported: imaging pitch and vowel interactively; imaging from an internal perspective; and utilizing mental rehearsal. Less than half of the singers described using methods other than mental imagery to conceptualize pitch and vowel.

Reading comprehension proficiency is vital for learners to be successful in their academic career, however, South African studies have revealed that reading comprehension skills are severely underdeveloped in secondary school learners. Local research has investigated many contributing factors such as multilingualism and deficits with the national curriculum standards. Far fewer studies have examined the cognitive underpinnings that differentiate between English second language (ESL) learners who are proficient in reading comprehension and those who are not. Certain multi-coding theories assert that the integration of visual mental imagery and verbal information is essential for the formation of a comprehensive mental model, which forms the basis of reading comprehension. This study explored the relationship between visual reasoning ability and the reading comprehension proficiency in a group of 83 ESL learners from two urban Gauteng schools. One school represented learners who are proficient readers whilst the second group represented learners who are developing readers. The Non-Verbal Reasoning and the 3D Spatial Manipulation subtests from the Differential Aptitude Test (DAT) battery were used to explore the learners’ ability to reason using visual-object and visual-spatial mental imagery. The Verbal Reasoning test was used to establish a baseline for the learners’ language skills. The items of the Reading Comprehension subtest of the Stanford Diagnostic Reading Test battery (SDRT-RC) were evaluated for textual factors that contribute toward word concreteness effects. The relationships between the DAT subtests and the SDRT-RC Mixed, Abstract and Concrete Items subtests were discussed in light of multi-coding models of reading comprehension.

Mental images are unique mental representations and the depictive view in the imagery debate states that mental images have similar spatial structures as their corresponding external object. The propositional view, however, contends that beliefs about the external world influence a mental image – also known as the cognitive penetrability theory –, therefore mental images cannot be described in visual terms. People with self-described aphantasia, those considered lacking visual mental images, offer a new opportunity to approach this issue. The current study employed the mental rotation task (MRT), where a three-dimensional object needs to be mentally aligned with another one that is rotated to a different angular position. To test the effects of beliefs on mental images, different instruction conditions were used on the MRT. Twenty-seven participants (21 females, mean age 47 years) with self-described aphantasia completed an online experiment, consisting of the MRT, the Object-Spatial Imagery Questionnaire (OSIQ), and the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (VVIQ). While participants scored low on the VVIQ and higher on the spatial items than on the object items of the OSIQ, the key finding was that increasing reaction time with increasing angular disparity on the MRT was not influenced by different instruction types. This suggests that the theory of cognitive penetrability is not applicable on mental rotation in aphantasia, highlighting the importance to revise how mental images (or the lack of them) are understood and described.

Shepard and Metzler (1971) argued that mental rotation is analogous to the real world in that people imagine the rotation of an object as if it were being physically rotated. This study tested this assertion by exposing participants to physical shapes that increased in size and weight. Participants interacted with blocks designed after Shepard and Metzler mental rotation size that differed in size and weight then performed subsequent mental rotation. We found no difference in reaction time but found that increased size reduced accuracy. We discuss the implications of this study as they pertain to embodied cognition.

In a world where gamification is increasingly prevalent, Dungeons & Dragons is a vast, seemingly untapped arena into which students in an EFL classroom could potentially venture. By exploring the various applications of the hugely popular tabletop role-playing game, there are several aspects in which students and teachers can explore in order to find practical as well as theoretical uses for a role-playing game of this size and scope. This study has discussed and analyzed the benefits and drawbacks of implementing Dungeons & Dragons in the EFL classroom through mental imagery and immersion as an effective teaching tool. The implementation of D&D in an EFL classroom is achievable through scaffolding and preparation. This study has also discussed the gamification aspects of the EFL classroom and the game specific areas of game-based pedagogy.

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Humans and other animals systematically discount the value of future rewards as a function of their delay, and individual differences in the steepness of this ``delay discounting'' are predictive of a range of important real-world outcomes. Episodic future thinking, the mental simulation of episodes in the personal future, is one means by which to curb delay discounting. This thesis seeks to contribute to our understanding of how this effect occurs. The account that predominates in the literature is that episodic future thinking simulates the experience of future rewards, enabling their undiscounted value to be appreciated in the present. This thesis takes this account as a starting point, formalizing it in a mathematical model and carrying out several experimental studies to test its predictions. We find that key predictions are not borne out and develop an alternative account in which simulated experience plays a less central role. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Pursuing our goals for the future usually means sacrificing immediate gratification, yet we often make decisions that are not in our best interest over the long term. This is because we assign lower subjective value to future rewards the further they are from the present. Individuals differ in how much they devalue future rewards, and these differences are related to many real-world outcomes. Our tendency to devalue future rewards is reduced when we vividly imagine the future in a process called ``episodic future thinking,'' and this thesis seeks to understand how this effect occurs. The most obvious explanation would seem to be that episodic future thinking ``simulates'' the experience of future rewards and allows us to recognize their value in the present. However, using results from several experimental studies, I argue that this may not be the best explanation after all, and I develop an alternative.

A normative experimental study was undertaken to establish whether engaging in positive, negative, and neutral mental imagery affected the reaction rate of participants to positive, negative, and neutral word stimuli. The sample consisted of computer literate, English speaking participants with no history of clinical disorders. A total of 80 participants took part in the study, with 40 participants from either gender. The results of a factorial ANOVA indicated that the type of mental imagery engaged in had a significant effect on the rate at which participants responded to stimuli (p=.00023, F=8.4057), whilst the emotional valence of the stimuli did not have a significant effect (p=.30503, F=1.1877). However, the interaction between the type of mental imagery and the emotional valence of the stimuli was highly significant (p=.00794, F=3.4576), thereby indicating that engaging in positive or negative mental imagery did bias participants towards a faster reaction rate to positive or negative stimuli respectively. / M.A. (Psychology) / Psychology

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

L’imagerie musicale involontaire (IMIN) est un phénomène mental extrêmement commun. Il peut être défini en tant que type d’imagerie mentale musicale qui devient consciente sans effort ou intentionnalité et qui n’est pas pathologique. La forme la plus connue d’IMIN est le « ver d’oreille », qui se présente généralement comme un court extrait musical tournant en boucle en tête et dont on se débarrasse difficilement. L’objectif principal de la présente thèse est d’investiguer les mécanismes cognitifs sous-tendant le phénomène puisque, malgré l’intérêt répandu dans les médias populaires, son étude expérimentale est récente et un modèle intégré n’a pas encore été proposé. Dans la première étude, l’induction expérimentale a été tentée et les caractéristiques des images mentales d’épisodes d’IMIN ont été investiguées. Dans le laboratoire, des chansons accrocheuses (versus des proverbes) ont été présentées répétitivement aux participants qui devaient ensuite les chanter le plus fidèlement possible. Ils ont par après quitté le laboratoire, une enregistreuse numérique en mains, avec la consigne d’enregistrer une reproduction vocale la plus fidèle possible de ce qu’ils avaient en tête lors de tous leurs épisodes d’IMIN sur une période de quatre jours, ainsi que de décrire leur timbre. L’expérience a été répétée deux semaines plus tard. Douze des dix-huit participants du groupe expérimental ont rapporté des pièces induites comme épisodes d’IMIN, ce qui confirme l’efficacité de la procédure d’induction. La tonalité et le tempo des productions ont ensuite été analysés et comparés à ceux des pièces originales. Similairement pour les épisodes d’IMIN induits et les autres, les tempi produits et, dans une moindre mesure pour les non-musiciens, les tonalités étaient proches des originaux. Le timbre décrit était généralement une version simplifiée de l’original (un instrument et/ou une voix). Trois études se sont ensuite intéressées au lien entre le potentiel d’IMIN et la mémorabilité. Dans une étude préliminaire, 150 chansons du palmarès francophone radiophonique ont été évaluées en ligne par 164 participants, sur leur niveau de familiarité, d’appréciation et de potentiel d’IMIN. Les pièces ont ensuite été divisées en groupes de stimuli à faible et à fort potentiel d’IMIN, qui ont été utilisés dans une tâche typique de rappel libre/reconnaissance, premièrement avec des francophones (pour qui les pièces étaient familières) et ensuite avec des non-francophones (pour qui les pièces étaient non-familières). Globalement, les pièces à fort potentiel d’IMIN étaient mieux rappelées et reconnues que les pièces à faible potentiel. Une dernière étude a investigué l’impact de la variabilité inter-stimulus du timbre sur les résultats précédents, en demandant à une chanteuse d’enregistrer les lignes vocales des pièces et en répétant l’expérience avec ces nouveaux stimuli. La différence précédemment observée entre les stimuli à fort et à faible potentiel d’IMIN dans la tâche de reconnaissance a ainsi disparu, ce qui suggère que le timbre est une caractéristique importante pour le potentiel d’IMIN. En guise de conclusion, nous suggérons que les phénomènes mentaux et les mécanismes cognitifs jouant un rôle dans les autres types de souvenirs involontaires peuvent aussi s’appliquer à l’IMIN. Dépendamment du contexte, la récupération mnésique des pièces peut résulter de la répétition en mémoire à court terme, de l’amorçage à court et long terme ou de l’indiçage provenant de stimuli dans l’environnement ou les pensées. Une des plus importantes différences observables entre l’IMIN et les autres souvenirs involontaires est la répétition. Nous proposons que la nature même de la musique, qui est définie par la répétition à un niveau micro- et macro-structurel en est responsable. / Involuntary Musical Imagery (INMI) is a widely prevalent musical phenomenon. It can be defined as a type of musical mental imagery that becomes accessible to consciousness without any effort or intent and that is not pathological. The best known form of INMI is the “earworm”, which usually presents as a short excerpt of music running repetitively through one’s mind and which is difficult to get rid of. The goal of the present thesis is to build a better understanding of the cognitive mechanisms at play, because, although the phenomenon is discussed abundantly in the popular literature and media, the scientific inquiries are recent and an integrated model has yet to be proposed. In the first study, experimental induction was attempted and the characteristics of INMI episodes’ mental images were assessed. In the laboratory, catchy songs (versus proverbs) were presented repeatedly to participants who had to sing them back (or reproduce the proverbs’ prosody) as accurately as possible. Participants then left for four days with a recording device, singing their INMI episodes as similarly as possible to their mental imagery and describing their timbre. The experiment was repeated two weeks later. Twelve out of the eighteen participants in the experimental group reported INMI episodes of the induced songs, which confirms the effectiveness of the induction procedure. The sung productions were then analyzed for key and tempo and were compared to the original versions. Produced tempi and, to a smaller extent in the case of non-musicians, keys were close to the originals, for both the induced and other INMI episodes. Described timbre was generally a simplified version of the original (one instrument and/or voice). Three studies then addressed the link between INMI potential and memorability. In a preliminary study, 150 francophone hit songs were evaluated online by 164 participants, as to their familiarity, liking and INMI potential. They were then divided into high and low INMI potential song groups and were used as stimuli in a typical free recall/recognition task, first with Francophones (for whom the songs were familiar) and then with non-Francophones (for whom the songs were unfamiliar). Globally, high INMI potential songs were better recalled and recognized than low INMI potential songs. A final study investigated the impact on the previous results of the timbre variability between songs, by asking a single female singer to make vocal recordings of the stimuli and repeating the experiment. The previously observed difference between high and low INMI potential songs on the recognition task disappeared, suggesting that timbre plays an important role in INMI potential. In conclusion, we suggest that mental phenomena and cognitive mechanisms applying to other involuntary thoughts and memories can also apply to INMI. Depending on the context, memory retrieval of the songs can happen as the result of short-term memory rehearsal, short and long-term priming or cuing from stimuli in the environment or thoughts. The biggest difference between INMI and other types of involuntary memories is repetition. We suggest that the nature of music, which is defined by repetition at a micro- and macro-structural level, explains this discrepancy.