Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston University / The purpose of this study is to obtain a better understanding of the nature and presence of the imagery that children have while reading silently, and to determine the relationship of this imagery to the comprehension of the material read. In this study mental imagery is defined as the perceptions in the imagination which accompany reading. This includes auditory, kinesthetic, olfactory, and gustatory imagery as well as visual imagery. Comprehension is defined for this study as the ability to score on the tests accompanying the reading selections.

Visual perspective in the context of autobiographical memory research refers to the point of view from which an individual constructs a visual image of a past event. While the number of studies focusing on this phenomenological aspect of retrieval has increased in the last decade, a basic understanding of the meaning of perspective and its fundamental characteristics has not been fully established. The current studies attempt to further this understanding. The first series of studies examine the role of memory age in perspective using continuous scales to measure self-reported perspective. These studies show memories change in a linear fashion, from first- to third-person perspective, as memories become more remote. Furthermore, individuals report more than one perspective during a single retrieval episode, females report more third-person perspective than do males, and individual differences in perspective use were observed. These individual differences were not accounted for by personality differences, such as levels of public self-consciousness. A second series of studies asked participants to describe the location of their visual perspective, rather than using continuous scales. These studies show visual perspective location varies greatly and consistently across space and for different events. For example, memories of giving a presentation were more likely to be visualized from in front of the individual, whereas memories of running from a threat were visualized from behind the individual. Although perspective location varies across events and space, location did not affect other phenomenological aspects of retrieval, such as memory vividness, belief in the accuracy of one's memory, or the degree of reliving experienced, nor did location map onto the ideal location for watching an event unfold or for watching one's self complete a task. Together these studies further characterize visual perspective during retrieval, suggesting it is more complex than a simple, dichotomous distinction between first- and third-person perspective. Additionally, they highlight the importance of understanding the phenomenological experience of perspective in order to appreciate its significance in other domains. / Dissertation

This study examined the age-related ability of children (7 to 11 years) and adults to use visual imagery in tasks requiring the subprocesses of imagery generation, maintenance and inspection. Previous work had shown that young children's performance on imagery maintenance was comparable to other groups, but the level of development was inferior with tasks requiring imagery generation and inspection. We examined these findings using two newly created tasks (Line Direction and Clock Task) and one modified from previous work (Grid Task). Our data indicated that children's ability to use visual imagery generation, inspection, and maintenance was operable, but substantially below adult levels. In most cases, 7-year-olds displayed greater difficulty than their 9- and 11-year-old counterparts and adults with tasks involving response time. Our results suggest that whereas young children are capable of using the imagery subprocesses examined, at least one age-related constraint, especially with maintenance tasks, is short-term visual memory ability. We also recognize that other likely factors, especially with young children in response time situations, are attention and general information processing ability.

The primary intent of this study was to explore fundamental questions about the role and relationship between motor (MI) and visual (VI) imagery within the context of estimating reach. Experiment 1 examined and compared VI and MI tasks under matched environmental conditions with the intent to explore the distinction and cooperation of the visual and motor systems in representing actions. The design of this experiment included an interference paradigm modified from Stevens (2005) in which six blocks of trials (conditions) were used: MI, VI, MI with visual interference, MI with motor interference, VI with motor interference, and VI with visual interference. Results indicated that MI was significantly more accurate than VI in regard to total error, distribution of error and mean bias (p <= .05). Significant increases in the number of errors and estimation bias were found when the modalities for the imagined task and the interference task were matched. The data showed that motor tasks interfered with the ability to MI, whereas visual tasks interfered with the ability to VI. Experiment 2 included a response-delay paradigm modified from Bradshaw and Watt (2002) in which eight blocks of trials were used: MI and VI conditions with no-delay and delays of 1-, 2- and 4 s. Overall, this experiment demonstrated that response-delay influenced accuracy of the MI (visuomotor) task, but not the VI (perceptual) task. That is, after a 4s delay, error in MI increased significantly. Interestingly, these results may indicate a crucial temporal constraint for the representation of distance, isolated in the visuomotor system. In view of both experiments, the findings are consistent with the notion of a distinction between vision for perception (VI) and vision for action (MI) as advanced by Goodale, Westwood & Milner (2004). In conclusion, VI seems to delineate relevant spatial parameters within the environment and then transfer the information to MI. At this point, information is computed in terms of biomechanical possibilities for a certain movement. In summary, just as perception and action are firmly linked, so too are MI and VI.

The primary intent of this study was to explore fundamental questions about the role and relationship between motor (MI) and visual (VI) imagery within the context of estimating reach. Experiment 1 examined and compared VI and MI tasks under matched environmental conditions with the intent to explore the distinction and cooperation of the visual and motor systems in representing actions. The design of this experiment included an interference paradigm modified from Stevens (2005) in which six blocks of trials (conditions) were used: MI, VI, MI with visual interference, MI with motor interference, VI with motor interference, and VI with visual interference. Results indicated that MI was significantly more accurate than VI in regard to total error, distribution of error and mean bias (p <= .05). Significant increases in the number of errors and estimation bias were found when the modalities for the imagined task and the interference task were matched. The data showed that motor tasks interfered with the ability to MI, whereas visual tasks interfered with the ability to VI. Experiment 2 included a response-delay paradigm modified from Bradshaw and Watt (2002) in which eight blocks of trials were used: MI and VI conditions with no-delay and delays of 1-, 2- and 4 s. Overall, this experiment demonstrated that response-delay influenced accuracy of the MI (visuomotor) task, but not the VI (perceptual) task. That is, after a 4s delay, error in MI increased significantly. Interestingly, these results may indicate a crucial temporal constraint for the representation of distance, isolated in the visuomotor system. In view of both experiments, the findings are consistent with the notion of a distinction between vision for perception (VI) and vision for action (MI) as advanced by Goodale, Westwood & Milner (2004). In conclusion, VI seems to delineate relevant spatial parameters within the environment and then transfer the information to MI. At this point, information is computed in terms of biomechanical possibilities for a certain movement. In summary, just as perception and action are firmly linked, so too are MI and VI.

No description available.

This investigation used an experimental design to examine how a visual imagery intervention and two levels of challenge would affect the flow experiences and performance of cadets engaged in Army ROTC marksmanship training. I employed MANCOVA analyses, with gender and prior marksmanship training experience as covariates, to assess cadets' (n = 127) marksmanship performance and flow experiences. Findings revealed that the use of visual imagery did not positively enhance flow and improve performance with statistical certainty. The results, however, might be practically significant because they showed that when cadets were faced with a more challenging situation and had engaged in visual imagery exercises, they were more likely to outperform cadets in the same challenge condition who had not engaged in visual imagery exercises. On average, cadets in the high challenge condition who engaged in visual imagery exercises outperformed non-visual imagery cadets in the same condition by over one point on a six-point scale. Additional findings revealed that level of challenge did not affect flow experiences, which is counter to the postulates of flow theory. Level of challenge did, however, negatively impact performance. That is, when cadets were faced with a more challenging situation, they performed more poorly. Prior experience — and by extension skill level — was discovered to better facilitate flow experiences, as opposed to a balance of challenge and skills. Higher levels of prior marksmanship training experience were associated with cadets' potential to enter the flow state. Additionally, males rated flow significantly higher than their female counterparts. Males also significantly outperformed females. Implications for future research investigating how challenge and visual imagery affect flow experiences and performance in the context of Army ROTC marksmanship training are discussed. / Ph. D.

No description available.

Consumers evaluate products in the market place using their senses and often form mental representations of product properties. These mental representations have been studied extensively. Imagery has been shown to interact with perception within many perceptual modalities including vision, auditory, olfactory, and motor. This dissertation draws on the vast visual imagery literature to examine imagery in the haptic, or touch, modality. Two studies were undertaken to examine the relationship between haptic imagery and haptic perception The first study is based on studies from cognitive psychology that have used similar methods for examining visual imagery and visual perception. In study 1, sighted and visually impaired participants were asked to evaluate objects haptically, to form a haptic image of that object during a short interval, and then to compare the haptic image to a second object. In Study 2, sighted and visually impaired participants listened to five radio advertisements containing imagery phrases from multiple modalities. After listening to the advertisements, participants were asked to recall the ad content and assess both the ad and the product while haptically evaluating the product in the ad. Though results were mixed and further exploration will be necessary, these studies offer broad implications for consumer use of haptic imagery in shopping environments. The implications for both sighted and blind consumers are discussed.

Abstract The act of knowing is a critical determinant of what is known, yet there are limits and potential violence inherent in all ways of knowing. Social workers have an ethical responsibility to understand our means of knowing and our knowledge claims – both shape the work we do. Conspicuously under-represented as creators of/commentators on how they are represented, people with intellectual disabilities have had little/no control over what or how they are known. These ethical and epistemological concerns were the focus of this arts-informed qualitative study. The purpose was an interrogative encounter with one way of knowing – how public photographic imagery of people with intellectual disabilities influences knowledge about them. It was concerned, however, to come to this knowledge through an inquiry into how labelled people would, themselves, interpret and respond to these representations, and how they might use photography to trouble disabling images and non-disabled (social work) knowing. Theoretically framed by a critical disability lens, the work was influenced, too, by Derrida’s essay on photography, “The Right of Inspection”. The other regarding aspect of the philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas, his concern with our ethical responsibility to the alterity of the Other, most powerfully informs the work. Four adults with intellectual disabilities accepted the invitation to participate in this project. First, they critically engaged with a selection of public photographic images. In a unique methodological turn, they then transformed the images to reflect their critique. Interpretive analysis of the critiques and transformations identified four thematic ideas. Participants’ critiques were insightful and profound; transformations provocative and disruptive. Challenging dominant assumptions – and demanding non-disabled others re-think intellectual disability and people so labeled – the critiques and transformations also respond to the social/political/ideological/psychological ramifications of photographic imagery on the lived experience of intellectual disability. Through the work, participants confront non-disabled responses to public photographs and to labeled people, challenging non-disabled others to question their knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours. The work also raises questions about research and people with intellectual disabilities: the possibilities for voice and empowerment through inclusive research strategies and visual methodologies, and the transformative potential of dialogic encounters between people with and without intellectual disabilities.