ch. 7

1. Summary
Chapter 7 focused on the subject of mental imagery and cognitive maps. Within mental imagery, the chapter explains the analog code (pictorial representation) and the propositional code (descriptive representation) and the effects of rotation (both mentally and physically), size, and on a person's mental visual image. The chapter also describes factors of imagery interference and ambiguity. In the second section, the chapter explains how background information, relative position, physical representation, and distance have a great impact on individual's ability to form cognitive maps.

2. Scaffolding Information
Mental imagery connects the ideas of top down processing (ch.2 ) and the perceptual process (ch. 3) to explain how mentally imagery is formed and then perceived. The second section provides justification of individual errors on cognitive mapping. As explained in chapter 1, errors formed in cognitive processing can be traced to rational strategies. Based on this previous information, the text explains both the errors and the strategic rational for differences.

3. Questions
I don't understand why people are unable to store information in terms of mental images due to the lack of space it requires (p. 225). Doesn't the mnemonic strategy of the keyword method employ mental imagery for recall? If our brains are limited in their space, why would this mnemonic still be effective and there is still room for us to recall many other mental images?

4. Application
This information on cognitive mapping is useful in my own life as well as my future classroom. In my life, the explanation of cognitive mapping and its factors of distance and my relative position help to explain how I can form better cognitive maps for remembering things like where I parked my car. In addition, it provides insight to how students are thinking when they are learning about mapping in social studies and their personal biases from background information.

5. Real of fake
I believe that mental imagery is affected by many factors, as addressed in the book. However, I do not believe that our mind is limited to the amount of imagery we can store. There is no proof provided in the form of a statistic or experiment, so the author's claim is very hard to believe. Based on my personal experiences with recalling new locations and remembering ever-changing factors, the section on cognitive mapping seemed valid and accurate in its explanations.

6. Importance
Mentally imagery has a huge impact on our lives, both in the academic and real world setting. If we don't have a mental image for things like how much can fit in our freezer, problems result from our inability to accurately judge space versus what we buy at the grocery store. Cognitive mapping essentially enables us to find our way in a constantly changing environment.

7. Actual use for students
Students could apply mental imagery in many life skill lessons- is there enough room for you to push your chair through without bumping into others? This application is great for visual learners and I think could have positive effects on students with learning disabilities. The skill of cognitive mapping can be applied to many reading or social studies lessons to help students prepare their minds for physical recall of locations.

8. Other options
Beyond using mental imagery or cognitive mapping, physical imagery and mapping could be used. In these situations, the results could be more accurate because personal factors and biases would not come into play, allowing us to determine exactly what will fit in a space and where a location is. However, more time and energy is spent in the process of physically carrying out the activities.