Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 28, 2025
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Stimulus-specific Cortical Visual Evoked Potential Morphological Patterns
Published on: May 12, 2019
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Imagined object files: Visual imagery produces partial repetition costs where perception does not
Brett A Cochrane1, Rocelyn Uy2, Bruce Milliken2
1School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK. brett.cochrane@abdn.ac.uk.
Attention, Perception & Psychophysics
|May 31, 2023
Summary
This study shows that mental imagery, like imagining a red ball, can bind features (color, location) into object files. This binding was stronger than with direct perception, highlighting active engagement
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Visual Perception
Background:
- Object files are hypothesized to bind features of objects encountered in space.
- The integration of sensory and imagined information into these files is not fully understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if object (or event) files can integrate color imagery and perceptual location.
- To compare the binding strength of imagery versus perception within event files.
Main Methods:
- A cue-target procedure was employed, using color imagery cued to a specific location.
- A subsequent perceptual color discrimination task was administered.
- Partial repetition costs (PRCs) were measured by manipulating feature overlap between cue and target.
Main Results:
- Robust PRCs were observed when color imagery was spatially cued, indicating successful feature integration.
- PRC effects for perceptual color cues were not statistically significant.
- Imagery demonstrated stronger binding effects compared to perception.
Conclusions:
- The findings support the formation of common event files integrating imagery and perception.
- Active engagement during imagery generation may enhance feature binding.
- This suggests a significant role for active cognitive processes in constructing representations of events.
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