The medium and the message in mental imagery: A theory.

Describes a computational theory of imagery that posits that visual mental images are transitory data structures that occur in an analog spatial medium. These "surface" representations are generated from more abstract "deep" representations in long-term memory and, once formed, can be operated upon in various ways. The theory is described in terms of detailed claims about the mental structures and processes invoked during imagery. In addition, the philosophical and empirical roots of the present theory are briefly reviewed. Further, arguments and data that have been offered against the theory are critically examined, and none are found damaging. An alternative account of the data that purportedly support the theory is also examined and found deficient in several respects. Finally, the current status of the "analog-propositional" debate is reviewed. (40 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comments on the myoelastic - aerodynamic theory of phonation

The myoelastic-aerodynamic theory of phonation has been quantified and tested with mathematical models. The models suggest that vocal fold oscillation is produced as a result of asymmetric forcing functions over closing and opening portions of the glottal cycle. For nearly uniform tissue displacements, as in falsetto voice, the asymmetry in the driving forces can result from the inertia of the air moving through the glottis. This inertia can in turn be enhanced or suppressed by supraglottal or subglottal vocal tract coupling. More obvious and pronounced asymmetries in the driving forces are associated with non-uniform vocal fold tissue displacements. These are combinations of normal tissue modes, and can result in vertical and horizontal phase differences along the surfaces, as observed in chest voice. The ranges of oscillation increase among various models as more freedom in the simulated tissue movement is incorporated. Of particular significance in initiating and maintaining oscillation are the vertical motions that facilitate coupling of aerodynamic energy into the tissues and allow tissue deformations under conditions of incompressibility. Vertical displacements also can have a significant on vocal tract excitation. Control of fundamental frequency of oscillation (FO) is basically myoelastic, partially as a result of deliberate or reflex adjustments of laryngeal muscles, and partially as a result of nonlinear tissue strain over the vibrational cycle. This places limits on the control of FO by subglottal pressure, and forces such control to be inseparably connected with vibrational amplitude, or less directly, with vocal intensity.     

Comments on using alternatives to normal theory statistics in social and behavioural science.

Comments on the article by M. A. Hunter and R. B. May (see record 1994-24054-001) on the myths and misconceptions of parametric and nonparametric statistics, particularly with reference to power, robustness, scale of measurement, the null hypothesis, and generality of application. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comments on Gloria.

The author comments on his peformance with the client "Gloria" in the classic training film The Three Approaches to Psychotherapy. It is noted that rational-emotive therapy has employed many new thinking, feeling, and behavioral techniques since the film was made in 1965, including cognitive distraction, modeling, and skill training. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comments on Taylor's "drive theory and manifest anxiety."

An examination of the theoretical constructs underlying the prediction that nonanxious Ss acquire complex learning problems, with competing responses for a given stimulus, more rapidly than anxious Ss "cannot be regarded as a prediction from current drive theory, but rather in many situations as a refutation of it." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comments about a chameleon theory: Level I/Level II.

Contends that A. R. Jensen's (see record 1983-09647-001) ideas about 2 levels of intellectual abilities are oversimplified. There are more than 2 levels of intellectual abilities. Slope values for the relationships between variables can reflect more than merely racial and socioeconomic status differences. Jensen has changed his 2-level theory to accommodate the criticisms. Unfortunately, this indicates weakness in the original theory and in the revised theory, for the changes in the theory make it virtually indistinguishable from the empirical generalizations it was designed to help explain. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comments on my critics.

Allan R. Buss responds to Bavelas' and Macdonald's criticisms of Buss's article (see record 1976-26634-001) on the evaluation of Canadian psychology departments. Buss says that Bavelas' (see record 2007-04411-001) criticisms are, in the main, important, insightful, and fundamentally correct and that Macdonald's (see record 2007-04410-001) criticisms are, in contrast to Bavelas', highly original, unimportant, and fundamentally incorrect. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comments on orthogonal components.

Several limitations in the use of an orthogonal components solution, as proposed by Gaito (see 34: 3638), in situations requiring multiple comparisons tests are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some reflections on imagery and psychotherapy implications.

This commentary elaborates on K. D. Arbuthnott, D. W. Arbuthnott, and L. Rossiter's (2001; see record 2001-00732-001) recommendations regarding the use of imagery in psychotherapy. The reflections focus primarily on occasions when imagery may be used to help clients reprocess and work through painful or traumatic memories. Highlighted are the values of (a) developing competence before using imagery, (b) attending to issues related to informed consent and ethics, (c) integrating the use of imagery within a comprehensive assessment, (d) establishing appropriate client expectations, (e) building on information derived from less directive methods, (f) being well versed with a variety of therapeutic tools, (g) paying attention to individual differences in clients' reactions to and use of imagery, and (h) responding appropriately if clients experience spontaneous memories of unknown origin. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Oral imagery and alcoholism.

20 hospital patients with histories of heavy daily alcoholic consumption were matched on age, education, IQ, and diagnosis with 20 patients with no history of reliance on alcohol. Their Rorschach scores on a measure of orality were compared. As predicted, the alcoholics gave more oral dependent responses than the controls. Although total scores on oral sadism did not discriminate between groups, the alcoholic Ss gave more responses on 2 of the oral sadistic subcategories, burdens and overwhelming figures. The striking similarity of subcategory performance of this group to an earlier group of obese Israelis is discussed. (16 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mental imagery and aging.

Young adult (aged 18–23 yrs) and elderly (aged 55–71 yrs) Ss performed 4 visual mental imagery tasks, each of which tapped different processes. The elderly had relatively impaired image rotation and image activation (the process of accessing and activating stored visual memories), and there was a hint that aging may impair the ability to maintain images. In contrast, the elderly were able to compose (the process of generating the segments of the shape, one by one) and scan visual mental images as well as young adults. However, when the authors correlated the mean performance of each age group across all the tasks, they found that the reaction times (RTs) of the elderly were almost perfectly predicted by the performance of the young Ss but that the error rates were not correlated. These findings suggest that although there is slowing with age, individual imagery processes are affected selectively by aging. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of imagery on perceptual implicit memory tests.

Four experiments demonstrate that imagery can promote priming on perceptual implicit memory tests. When Ss were given words during a study phase and asked to form mental images of corresponding pictures, more priming was obtained on a picture fragment identification test than from a study condition in which Ss performed semantic analyses of words. Imaginal priming of picture fragment identification occurred for recoverable fragments, but not for nonrecoverable fragments. The imagery effect was restricted to the imaged type of material: Imagining pictures (when presented with words) enhanced priming on a picture fragment identification test but not on word fragment completion. Similarly, when pictures were presented, imagining the corresponding words increased priming on word fragment completion but not on picture fragment identification. Overall, results support the hypothesis that imagining engages some of the same mechanisms used in perception and thereby produces priming. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Studies in imagery and identity.

The constructs for which reliable scales are developed include identity, ego, body-ego, superego, and id derivatives. These measures were related in 2 samples of 102 and 79 undergraduates (Exps I and II, respectively) to previously developed measures of vividness of self-imagery for current activities, for the past, and for the future. The new measures were also related to ratings and reports that assess 3 basic processes of imagery: figural, mimetic, and symbolic. Exps III and IV, with 82 and 81 undergraduates, respectively, showed significant external validity for imagery measures of identity, superego, and id derivatives. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Anticipatory imagery and spatial operations.

Performed 5 experiments with approximately 152 students in Grades 1-5 to identify levels of children's operatory development on a task requiring the transformation of objects in accord with stipulated rotations through space and to determine whether observed operatory levels would predict performance on tasks requiring other types of imagined movements. In Exp I, Ss anticipated the results of rotating an object 180Deg.. Three types of imagery performance were found: transposition, in which change of location was acknowledged but changes in the object's features were not; transformation, in which changes of location were coordinated with changes in the object's features; and intermediate, which included elements of the 2 other approaches. These approaches were correlated with age. In Exp II and III, findings were replicated with 90Deg. rotation and with the referent object shielded from sight. In Exp IV, Ss were assessed on a version of the traditional perspective-taking task. Degree of success was lowest for Ss who had manifested spatial transposition on the rotation problem. Finally, in Exp V, Ss from each grade who took extreme approaches were studied. Again, performance on rotation was related to perspective taking and also to imagining water level in a tilted bottle. (1971) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comments on the controlled drinking controversy.

Comments on G. A. Marlatt's (see record 1984-13214-001) views on the controlled-drinking-by-alcoholics controversy. The need to define control and to distinguish between alcoholics and problem drinkers is emphasized. The credibility of research on controlled drinking is discussed. Reasons why training alcoholics in controlled drinking is attractive to psychologists are considered. (6 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mental imagery in psychoanalytic treatment.

Mental imagery techniques may facilitate the therapeutic process by stimulating patients' insight into unconscious dynamics, by helping them uncover and master warded-off affect, and by enhancing the clinician's empathic contact and access to countertransference. The history of imagery techniques in the psychoanalytic movement and the effect of these techniques on the traditional psychoanalytic method are reviewed. A conceptual framework based on the theory of primary and secondary process suggests spontaneity, experiential scope, associative elaboration, and object impact as four dimensions for the clinical evaluation of imagery experience. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An historicodevelopmental aspect of imagery.

Examined the possibility that there are similarities between the historical and individual processes of language development. Based on an extrapolation of A. Paivio's (1971) theory of language acquisition, it was predicted that the earlier a word enters the language, the higher its imagery value should be. 877 nouns with precise dates of entry listed in the Oxford English Dictionary were scored according to word length (long or short) and noun type (simple or derived). An analysis of these nouns yielded results that were generally consistent with the hypothesis, since word length, frequency, and imagery were all significantly related to date of entry. However, a significant interaction between word length and imagery existed only for short words. Long words tended to be low in imagery regardless of their date of entry, while short words were higher in imagery the older they were. (French abstract) (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comments on Meehl and Rosen's paper.

In a paper by Meehl and Rosen (see 30: 2902) a rationale for evaluating the predictive efficiency of psychometric instruments is presented. The purpose of this paper is to emphasize the importance of administrative policy in any consideration of statistical criteria. A discussion of Meehl and Rosen's Case 1 situation is presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)