ABSTRACT
Animal memory has been a topic of interest to theorists in animal learning since the "cognitive revolution," but the forms of memory that animals use have eluded experimental study. The idea that different species of animals use a process like imagery to remember objects and events has been suggested by many theorists, but the notion has eluded empirical test Picture-like memory is implicated in many prominent and commonly held theories of short-term memory. Data gathered from animals of divergent evolutionary lineages may seem incomparable determined to track the phylogenetic development of specific patterns of behavior, but for those seeking evidence of general mechanisms of adaptation and survival, these are the data of choice. The critical test of imagery in animals is to determine whether their memories contain visual/spatial characteristics, if it is possible for them to transform those memories, if such transformations progress in analogue form, and if the transformations support physical constraints internalized from experience in the real world.
