Introduction: This paper investigates the question of whether or not subjects who are congenitally blind experience greater difficulties mentally in resizing images of objects than those who have low vision or are adventitiously blind. Methods: Two experiments were conducted--one in which subjects were asked to mentally enlarge objects they…

Images, anxieties, and attitudes towards mathematics are common interest among mathematics teachers, teacher educators and researchers. The main purpose of this literature review based paper is to discuss and analyze images, anxieties, and attitudes towards mathematics in order to foster meaningful teaching and learning of mathematics. Images of…

This study investigated the construction of a spatial model in relation to working memory (WM) and visuospatial abilities. Participants were trained to use either imagery or verbal strategies to process route spatial texts. Results obtained on a free recall task, a verification test and a graphic representation task showed the beneficial effect of…

This study explores the mental images at the microscopic level of matter created by 22 preservice science teachers in Oman. Participants were encouraged during a guided imagery session to construct mental images for a scenario written about the explanation of the reaction of sodium in water. They were then asked to describe what they envisioned in…

This paper surveys some major trends from research on visual and spatial thinking coming from cognitive science, developmental psychology, science literacy, and science studies. It explores the role of visualisation in creativity, in building mental models, and in the communication of scientific ideas, in order to place these findings in the…

This article examines the state of knowledge on the creative process, especially mathematical-scientific, verbal, musical, and artistic imagery. A creative imagination imagery model is proposed which has three major dimensions: the environment, the individual (with both content and process components considered in terms of the Structure of…

It is not known why people move their eyes when engaged in non-visual cognition. The current study tested the hypothesis that differences in saccadic eye movement rate (EMR) during non-visual cognitive tasks reflect different requirements for searching long-term memory. Participants performed non-visual tasks requiring relatively low or high…

Discusses the nature of motion media (i.e., film and television) and describes a theoretical model of communication, the Iconic Phenomena Communication Model. Topics discussed include types of imagery; symbolic representations; motion media and the mind; and semiotics in the study of film and television. (four references) (LRW)

During adolescence the body undergoes many physical changes. These changes necessitate an updating of internal models of action. Here, we tested the hypothesis that internal models undergo refinement between adolescence and adulthood. We investigated the chronometry of executed and imagined hand actions, which relies on internal models, in 40…

The author analyzes some recent developments in the debate over the status of mental imagery. He attempts to specify what a propositional theory is, and considers arguments for and against the imagery position, i.e., whether visual imagery is encoded in terms of properties that are quite spatial and modality specific. (Author/RK)

The "sense making" process structures humans' categorization, perceptual, and expressive processes. These "sense making" references are ultimately derived from four distinct "root metaphors": mechanism or mechanistic thinking (machine), formism or formistic thinking (similarity), organicism or organistic thinking (organic process), and…

Experimental phenomenology requires that educators acknowledge the experiences of the learner. Today, many of those experiences are images that come from television. In a behaviorist or humanist tradition, learning takes place through experience, and learners comprehend, make decisions, and analyze their behavior through reflection. Meaning is…

A study-recall paired-associates (PA) learning task was administered to 40 trainable mentally retarded children (6-14 years old) under one of four instructional modeling conditions: imagery, verbal mediation, imagery and verbal mediation, or control. On half of the PA learning study trials, the children were provided with modeled mediating…

Imagery use in high school mathematics classrooms was studied. A visual image was defined as a mental scheme depicting visual or spatial information, but this definition was not spelled out to teachers or students, in order to learn what they meant by the concept. Subjects were 13 high school teachers and 54 of their students interviewed over 3…

A pilot study with 17 middle school science teachers at 15 schools was conducted to determine how to use interactive videodisc technology to develop student ability to use visual skills in processing science information, thereby improving science achievement. The first year's progress is described in identifying how visual images seem to affect…