ERIC Number: EJ697492
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2005-Apr
Pages: 22
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0010-0277
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Interference Effects Demonstrate Distinct Roles for Visual and Motor Imagery during the Mental Representation of Human Action
Stevens, J.A.
Cognition, v95 n3 p329-350 Apr 2005
Four experiments were completed to characterize the utilization of visual imagery and motor imagery during the mental representation of human action. In Experiment 1, movement time functions for a motor imagery human locomotion task conformed to a speed-accuracy trade-off similar to Fitts' Law, whereas those for a visual imagery object motion task did not. However, modality-specific interference effects in Experiment 2 demonstrate visual and motor imagery as cooperative processes when the action represented is tied to visual coordinates in space. Biomechanic-specific motor interference effects found in Experiment 3 suggest one basis for separation of processing channels within motor imagery. Finally, in Experiment 4 representations of motor actions were found to be generated using only visual imagery under certain circumstances: namely, when the imaginer represented the motor action of another individual while placed at an opposing viewpoint. These results suggest that the modality of representation recruited to generate images of human action is dependent on the dynamic relationship between the individual, movement, and environment.
Descriptors: Imagery, Cognitive Development
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Publication Type: Journal Articles
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