Chapter 2 The Ins and Outs of Working Memory: Overcoming the Limits on Learning from Imagery

Publisher Summary This chapter presents the Reisberg and Chambers results confirming that discoveries can be inspired by imagery—that one can find unanticipated forms in one's own images. Thus, images can serve a crucial role in learning and in problem solving. At the same time, however, there appear to be strong boundaries on the learnings and discoveries inspired by images. In a variety of procedures discussed in this chapter, it is shown that learning from imagery goes forward only if the image and target form share both geometry and reference frame. Learning from imagery does not take place if there is a mismatch between the image and target reference frames; this seems true even when subjects are imaging familiar configurations, configurations easily recognized with pictorial (rather than image) presentations. One widely used paradigm in visual working memory is to study the temporary retention of visual patterns. There is a research that illuminates the nature of working memory and several theoretical issues (e.g., the role of stimulus support, and thus the contrast between mental representations and external stimuli).