In this discussion you should explore how mental imagery (not visual perception) is used in driving a car from one location to another, or, if you do not drive, navigating a route from one location to another. You should identify the initial location and goal location and describe how you use mental imagery to arrive at your goal location. Let me ensure that we are all clear on the difference between visual (mental) imagery and visual perception. As you read this printed text there are cells in your eyes that are firing and sending information along the optic nerves to (primarily) the occipital lobe for additional processing of the information. If we were to do some type of scan (PET) we would see that increased neural activity due to the physical (electrochemical) activity of those neurons. That is, there would be the perception of information based on a physical stimulus. Now, imagine that in the middle of reading this information your computer unexpectedly shut down. There would no longer be a visual stimulus impinging on your sensory system. However, if I then asked you to recreate the format of what you last saw you’d probably answer like the following: Oh, there were some icons at the top of the screen, like a little house, an envelope, a bell and an SFA icon. Below those icons was the menu bar with “Course Home”, “Content”, “Grades”, etc. listed and below that was the text I was reading. The above description is based on visual (mental) imagery. Even though the physical stimulus is no longer present, one can use a visual (mental) image to recreate what was there. I hope the above clarifies the difference between visual perception and visual (mental) imagery. In your response, please ensure you are discussing your mental imagery and not visual perception. Your response should be about 1.5 pages double-spaced in MS-Word. The response should include at least one scholarly reference beyond the textbook in support of a substantive point in your response. That is, the reference should describe HOW your reference supports a substantive point you are making. If you are not sure whether a reference is scholarly, try using Google Scholar or Psychology Today as possible places to find such scholarly research. Finally, your reference must not be any older than 2000 (and should be APA formatted both in-text and in the references section. Attached is the template you must use for your response. When you get ready to submit your response, please delete all of the comments in the file (the toolbar above has that function on it).
