According to Goldstein (2011), visual imagery is the ability to see in the absence of visual/physical stimuli. This definition of visual imagery can be used to explain some of the instances in which we form a mental picture of objects, places, peoples’ faces, etc without actually seeing any of these stimuli. In this post, I will be discussing some of the applications of visual imagery including its use in re-experiencing of feelings/emotions, in meditation, and to improve memory.

One of the most common examples of visual imagery is vicarious visual images or experiences.  Recently, four of my friends came back from a two-week vacation in France. They told me of some of the fun activities/adventures (including swimming with dolphins, SCUBA diving, paragliding, horseback riding,  and gambling in a casino) and places they visited (including the Eiffel Tower,  Disneyland Paris, The Louvre Museum, Palace of Versailles, Notre Dame Cathedral, and Catacombs of Paris). They were as excited as I was over a year ago, when I came back from my own two-week vacation in France. In fact, I recommended the places and the activities they tried out while in France. I visited the same exact places and had some of the activities/adventures during my own vacation, and I was sure they would love the places and the activities/adventures. I was right; they had a blast in France.  However, as they related every detail of the activities/adventures they had and the places they visited, I could not help but relive the memories and the feelings/emotions of my own two-week vacation in France. Most of the images of the places I visited and the activities/adventures I had were still very clear. Even as I write this post, I can see myself swimming (in a black and blue swimming trunk) in-between the playful and intelligent dolphins— Jack and Jill. I can see myself gearing up and getting ready for SCUBA diving, I can see the beautiful underwater coral reefs, vegetation, sea anemones, fishes and sea turtles— it’s like one of the scenes in the movie, FINDING NEMO. I can see myself posing beside the famous Mona Lisa (inside the Louvre Museum) for a picture. I can see myself on the East wing of the Eiffel Tower marvelling at the panoramic view of Paris. I can see millions of skulls and other skeletal remains buried inside the Catacombs of Paris. There are several other images of my vacation in my head, but for the sake of space; I will limit my description to the ones already discussed. The important point I would like to make is that visual imagery is an essential part of episodic memory in that we can relive events and have more or less of the same feelings/emotions we experienced during the original event. This re-experiencing of feelings/emotions through visual imagery, has led to proposals which suggest that visual imagery shares similar mechanisms with perception (Goldstein, 2011).

Similar to re-experiencing of feelings/emotions through visual imagery; I also use visual imagery during meditation, which I perform various times throughout each day. Meditation is a powerful tool if you know how to use it, although I must say, it takes practice to get used to and to feel the effects. Various people have different methods of meditating, but for me; it’s more about transporting myself into serene, calm, and beautiful places through visual imagery. For example, during a particular meditation session (which can last between 5-10 minutes), I could imagine myself alone on a boat floating on a Caribbean blue sea. I try to focus on the image and to marvel at the beauty, calmness, and horizons of the sea. Such focus usually leads me to fall into somewhat of a trance like state, in which I feel like I am asleep but still vaguely conscious about my surrounding.

Furthermore, visual imagery is a great tool for improving memory. It could be used to memorize entire books, but such feat could be very laborious and mentally draining. However, sometimes, I use visual imagery to memorize lectures, presentations, seminars, etc. For example, to memorize lesson 12 of PSYCH 256, I would form colourful, distinct, simple head images for each page title/heading. Then, I would stack the head images on top of each in order of appearance of the page titles/headings and mount the stacked images onto an item (e.g. a microwave) in my house. The stack of images serves as a structure or skeleton onto which images of concepts and other details on various pages would be mounted. To memorize concepts on any particular page, I would chunk the paragraphs into smaller paragraphs if necessary. Each paragraph is transformed into an image or a group of images based on the concepts or details contained in the paragraph. These conceptual or body images are then mounted onto the corresponding head image. The process is repeated for each page until all the concepts or details are satisfactorily memorized. To review or recall, I start with a mental picture of my microwave and scroll through the stack of head images, select a head image of interest and zoom into it. On this head image, I can then find the body image(s) which represent concepts or details.

Visual imagery is a powerful tool and could be applied to various areas such as discussed in this post.

REFERENCES

Goldstein, B. (2011). Cognitive Psychology: Connecting Mind, Research and Everyday Experience, 3rd Edition. Wadsworth, Inc.