Spatial vs Propositional

I have always had an easier time learning visually. Even in college, I found that it I received better grades whenever I had a visual learning guide like powerpoint over just a written study guide that just stated what to study. So, to overcome this issue that I faced, I would transform the material as I studied into a powerpoint. I saw a the impact that it had on my grades and have been continuing to do it for exams. I would add pictures to almost everything that I put into the powerpoints so that I could understand the material even better. I never knew about the difference in learning of the connection between imagery and propositions until now.

The propositional representation is the relationship that can be represented by abstract symbols (Goldstein, 2011). It explains what a picture looks like or features that stick out that are easy to remember. The spatial representation is when different parts of an image can be described as corresponding to specific locations in space (Goldstein, 2011). But, there is a mix of both when determining what some images mean or finding if they actually are what they appear to be. Some of these examples include pictures that are actually two pictures in one or they have different pictures depending on the way that you look at it. The underlying representation of an image doesn’t have to be spatial, this is what can be called an epiphenomenon. An epiphenomenon is something that accompanies the real mechanism but it isn’t actually part of the mechanism (Goldstein, 2011). This is when a proposition is actually telling what exactly is happening in an image. It’s the verbal statements that can be concluded from the image itself.

I believe that this concept is important especially to children trying to learn. I think that it makes a large impact on how an individual learns because everyone learns differently. There are people that are more visual learners like myself and other people that can read something and remember everything about it. I have found that it’s a combination of both that works best. Everyone has their own interpretation of pictures but its the propositional aspect that makes it everything come together.


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

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