PSYC 3121 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Memory Span, Symmetry In Biology, General Idea
Document Summary
We use representations/imagery to process information/solve problems/etc when perceptual stimuli is unavailable or when the mental processes we need are more abstract. (ex. When you are asked how many windows are in your house, you visualize walking from room to room since you are not able to physically do so) Representation: when there is no available physical stimulus resulting in abstract thought. It"s a format to describe and depict knowledge. It"s not a copy of an object or thought. It also carries information about the meaning of that object, event or idea. Perception: where perception is solely based off a physical stimulus. Rather than abstract propositional representations, we represent information in combined verbal and visual codes. When we hear a sentence we develop an image of what it describes. We later remember the visual image and not the sentence. We will remember what the sentence was about but not its exact words.
