ABSTRACT

Theories in cognitive psychology specify representations of mental states and processes that operate on the representations. Competing theories posit different representations and processes. A classic debate in theories of mental imagery juxtaposes propositional representation of spatial knowledge against analogical representation. In a propositional representation, spatial relations are explicitly encoded by symbols. In an analogical representation, spatial relations are only implicit in the medium itself and can be extracted only with additional processing. (For additional discussion of analogical and propositional representations, see Kosslyn, 1983. or Palmer, 1978.) The distinction between propositional and analogical representations, and their use in theories of mental imagery, can be especially difficult for students of cognitive psychology. This article presents an interactive classroom demonstration for explaining these concepts.