On the Hypothesized Physiological Correspondence between Perceptual and Imagery Processes

Abstract

This research examined some aspects of the interaction between imagery and perception of 16 male and 84 female undergraduate students in psychology. The data indicate that, when a subject is imagining with open eyes, a modification in the external stimulation of the retina, produced by covering the eyes, strongly modifies the imaginative activity. The majority of the subjects observed a loss of mental image. In 54% of the subjects the loss of image was provoked by covering only one of the two eyes. Other subjects presented interesting alterations of the mental image. The observed differences among subjects are interpreted by hypothesizing a correspondence between perceptual and imaginative styles that could employ common neurophysiological structures at central and perhaps peripheral levels.