What is so special about inner images?
Inner images are extraordinarily flexible and selective. They enable us:
• to hide certain information
• to focus on specific aspects
• to manipulate objects mentally
• and to look at things from different perspectives
What is mental rotation and selective attention?
Scientists describe two key abilities of our brain:
- Mental rotation: We rotate objects in our ‘mind’s eye’.
- Selective attention: We focus on certain aspects of a mental image.
These skills allow us to visualise objects from angles that we may never have seen in reality.
What kind of individual differences are there in this imagination?
The ability to imagine an object ‘from all sides’, varies from Person to Person. Influencing factors are:
- Individual power of imagination
- Personal experiences
- Familiarity with the object
Not everyone can visualise an object in the same detail or in its completeness, especially if certain perspectives are unknown.
Is synchronisation the key to forming inner images?
To understand how our brain creates these complex inner images, we need to take a closer look at the concept of synchronisation.
References
Kosslyn, S. M., Thompson, W. L., & Smart, G. (2006). The case for mental imagery. Oxford University Press.