Abstract
When people scan mental images, their response times increase linearly with increases in the distance to be scanned, which is generally taken as reflecting the fact that their internal representations incorporate the metric properties of the corresponding objects. In view of this finding, we investigated the structural properties of spatial mental images created from nonvisual sources in three groups (blindfolded sighted, late blind, and congenitally blind). In Experiment 1, blindfolded sighted and late blind participants created metrically accurate spatial representations of a small-scale spatial configuration under both verbal and haptic learning conditions. In Experiment 2, late and congenitally blind participants generated accurate spatial mental images after both verbal and locomotor learning of a full-scale navigable space (created by an immersive audio virtual reality system), whereas blindfolded sighted participants were selectively impaired in their ability to generate precise spatial representations from locomotor experience. These results attest that in the context of a permanent lack of sight, encoding spatial information on the basis of the most reliable currently functional system (the sensorimotor system) is crucial for building a metrically accurate representation of a spatial environment. The results also highlight the potential of spatialized audio-rendering technology for exploring the spatial representations of visually impaired participants.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Afonso, A., Katz, B. F. G., Blum, A., Jacquemin, C., & Denis, M. (2005, July). A study of spatial cognition in an immersive virtual audio environment: Comparing blind and blindfolded individuals. In Proceedings of the Eleventh Meeting of the International Conference on Auditory Display, Limerick, Ireland.
Avraamides, M. N., Loomis, J. M., Klatzky, R. L., & Golledge, R. G. (2004). Functional equivalence of spatial representations derived from vision and language: Evidence from allocentric judgments. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition, 30, 801–814.
Beech, J. R. (1979). Scanning visual images: Implications for the representation of space. Perception, 8, 621–628.
Begault, D. R. (1994). 3-D sound for virtual reality and multimedia. Boston: Academic Press.
Bloom, P., Peterson, M. A., Nadel, L., & Garrett, M. F. (Eds.) (1996). Language and space. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Borst, G., & Kosslyn, S. M. (2008). Visual mental imagery and visual perception: Structural equivalence revealed by scanning processes. Memory & Cognition, 36, 849–862.
Borst, G., Kosslyn, S. M., & Denis, M. (2006). Different cognitive processes in two image-scanning paradigms. Memory & Cognition, 34, 475–490.
Bryant, D. J. (1997). Representing space in language and perception. Mind & Language, 12, 239–264.
Cattaneo, Z., Fastame, M. C., Vecchi, T., & Cornoldi, C. (2006). Working memory, imagery and visuo-spatial mechanisms. In T. Vecchi & G. Bottini (Eds.), Imagery and spatial cognition (pp. 101–137). Amsterdam: Benjamins.
Chabanne, V., Péruch, P., Denis, M., & Thinus-Blanc, C. (2004). Mental scanning of images constructed from visual experience or verbal descriptions: The impact of survey versus route perspective. Imagination, Cognition & Personality, 23, 163–171.
Cornoldi, C., & Vecchi, T. (2000). Mental imagery in blind people: The role of passive and active visuo-spatial processes. In M. A. Heller (Ed.), Touch, representation, and blindness (pp. 143–181). New York: Oxford University Press.
De Beni, R., & Cornoldi, C. (1988). Imagery limitations in totally congenitally blind subjects. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition, 14, 650–655.
Denis, M. (2008). Assessing the symbolic distance effect in mental images constructed from verbal descriptions: A study of individual differences in the mental comparison of distances. Acta Psychologica, 127, 197–210.
Denis, M., & Carfantan, M. (1985). People’s knowledge about images. Cognition, 20, 49–60.
Denis, M., & Cocude, M. (1992). Structural properties of visual images constructed from poorly or well-structured verbal descriptions. Memory & Cognition, 20, 497–506.
Denis, M., Gonçalves, M.-R., & Memmi, D. (1995). Mental scanning of visual images generated from verbal descriptions: Towards a model of image accuracy. Neuropsychologia, 33, 1511–1530.
Denis, M., & Kosslyn, S. M. (1999). Scanning visual mental images: A window on the mind. Current Psychology of Cognition, 18, 409–465.
Dror, I. E., Kosslyn, S. M., & Waag, W. L. (1993). Visual-spatial abilities of pilots. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78, 763–773.
Dulin, D., Hatwell, Y., Pylyshyn, Z., & Chokron, S. (2008). Effects of peripheral and central visual impairment on mental imagery capacity. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 32, 1396–1408.
Ernest, C. H. (1987). Imagery and memory in the blind: A review. In M. A. McDaniel & M. Pressley (Eds.), Imagery and related mnemonic processes: Theories, individual differences, and applications (pp. 218–238). New York: Springer.
Fisher, R. A. (1921). On the probable error of a coefficient of correlation deduced from a small sample. Metron, 1, 3–32.
Hegarty, M., Montello, D. R., Richardson, A. E., Ishikawa, T., & Lovelace, K. (2006). Spatial abilities at different scales: Individual differences in aptitude-test performance and spatial-layout learning. Intelligence, 34, 151–176.
Iachini, T., & Giusberti, F. (2004). Metric properties of spatial images generated from locomotion: The effect of absolute size on mental scanning. European Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 16, 573–596.
Kaski, D. (2002). Revision: Is visual perception a requisite for visual imagery? Perception, 31, 717–731.
Kerr, N. H. (1983). The role of vision in “visual imagery” experiments: Evidence from the congenitally blind. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 112, 265–277.
Klatzky, R. L., Lippa, Y., Loomis, J. M., & Golledge, R. G. (2003). Encoding, learning, and spatial updating of multiple object locations specified by 3-D sound, spatial language, and vision. Experimental Brain Research, 149, 48–61.
Knauff, M. (2009). A neuro-cognitive theory of deductive relational reasoning with mental models and visual images. Spatial Cognition & Computation, 9, 109–137.
Kosslyn, S. M., Ball, T. M., & Reiser, B. J. (1978). Visual images preserve metric spatial information: Evidence from studies of image scanning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance, 4, 47–60.
Kosslyn, S. M., Thompson, W. L., & Ganis, G. (2006). The case for mental imagery. New York: Oxford University Press.
Loomis, J. M., Klatzky, R. L., Golledge, R. G., Cicinelli, J. G., Pellegrino, J. W., & Fry, P. A. (1993). Nonvisual navigation by blind and sighted: Assessment of path integration ability. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 122, 73–91.
Loomis, J. M., Lippa, Y., Klatzky, R. L., & Golledge, R. G. (2002). Spatial updating of locations specified by 3-D sound and spatial language. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition, 28, 335–345.
Marmor, G. S., & Zaback, L. A. (1976). Mental rotation by the blind: Does mental rotation depend on visual imagery? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance, 2, 515–521.
Mellet, E., Bricogne, S., Crivello, F., Mazoyer, B., Denis, M., & Tzourio-Mazoyer, N. (2002). Neural basis of mental scanning of a topographic representation built from a text. Cerebral Cortex, 12, 1322–1330.
Millar, S. (1994). Understanding and representing space: Theory and evidence from studies with blind and sighted children. Oxford: Oxford University Press, Clarendon Press.
Noordzij, M. L., Zuidhoek, S., & Postma, A. (2006). The influence of visual experience on the ability to form spatial mental models based on route and survey descriptions. Cognition, 100, 321–342.
Péruch, P., Chabanne, V., Nesa, M.-P., Thinus-Blanc, C., & Denis, M. (2006). Comparing distances in mental images constructed from visual experience or verbal descriptions: The impact of survey versus route perspective. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 59, 1950–1967.
Pinker, S., Choate, P. A., & Finke, R. A. (1984). Mental extrapolation in patterns constructed from memory. Memory & Cognition, 12, 207–218.
Pylyshyn, Z. W. (1973). What the mind’s eye tells the mind’s brain: A critique of mental imagery. Psychological Bulletin, 80, 1–24.
Pylyshyn, Z. W. (1981). The imagery debate: Analogue media versus tacit knowledge. Psychological Review, 88, 16–45.
Röder, B., & Rösler, F. (1998). Visual input does not facilitate the scanning of spatial images. Journal of Mental Imagery, 22(3-4), 165–181.
Steiger, J. H. (1980). Tests for comparing elements of a correlation matrix. Psychological Bulletin, 87, 245–251.
Thinus-Blanc, C., & Gaunet, F. (1997). Representation of space in blind persons: Vision as a spatial sense? Psychological Bulletin, 121, 20–42.
Tinti, C., Adenzato, M., Tamietto, M., & Cornoldi, C. (2006). Visual experience is not necessary for efficient survey spatial cognition: Evidence from blindness. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 59, 1306–1328.
Ungar, S. (2000). Cognitive mapping without visual experience. In R. Kitchin & S. Freundschuh (Eds.), Cognitive mapping: Past, present and future (pp. 221–248). London: Routledge.
Vecchi, T. (1998). Visuo-spatial imagery in congenitally totally blind people. Memory, 6, 91–102.
Veraart, C., & Wanet-Defalque, M.-C. (1987). Representation of locomotor space by the blind. Perception & Psychophysics, 42, 132–139.
Wanet, M.-C., & Veraart, C. (1985). Processing of auditory information by the blind in spatial localization tasks. Perception & Psychophysics, 38, 91–96.
Zimler, J., & Keenan, J. M. (1983). Imagery in the congenitally blind: How visual are visual images? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition, 9, 269–282.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
The data in this study were reported at the Fifteenth Conference of the European Society for Cognitive Psychology, Marseille, France, August 29-September 1, 2007. This research was supported by a grant from the European Union to M.D. (STREP “Wayfinding,” Contract 12959) and an internal research grant from the LIMSI-CNRS (Action Incitative). The experiments conducted by the Orsay team in the Wayfinding project were approved by the Ethics Committee of the National Center for Scientific Research (Comité Opérationnel pour l’Ethique en Sciences de la Vie).
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Afonso, A., Blum, A., Katz, B.F.G. et al. Structural properties of spatial representations in blind people: Scanning images constructed from haptic exploration or from locomotion in a 3-D audio virtual environment. Memory & Cognition 38, 591–604 (2010). https://doi.org/10.3758/MC.38.5.591
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/MC.38.5.591