Involuntary mental rotation and visuospatial imagery from external control

• Published in: Consciousness and cognition 2019-10, Vol.75, p.102809-102809, Article 102809
• Main Authors: Cushing, Donish, Gazzaley, Adam, Morsella, Ezequiel
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Mental imagery; Mental rotation; Mental task performance; Reflexive imagery task; Unconscious processing; Visuospatial imagery
• ISSN: 1053-8100; 1090-2376
• DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2019.102809

•The Reflexive Imagery Task (RIT) triggers high-level, involuntary imagery.•The effect involves verbal imagery, which is an easily elicited form of imagery.•Can the RIT effect arise for tasks requiring high-level, symbol manipulation?•Effects arose from an RIT involving mental rotation and visuospatial imagery.•The effects require high-level processes associated with frontal cortex. The Reflexive Imagery Task (RIT) was developed to investigate the entry into consciousness of involuntary imagery. Subjects are presented with objects and instructed to not think of the names of the objects. Involuntary subvocalizations arise on many trials. RIT effects reveal the capacities of involuntary processing. These cognitions do not require symbol manipulation. Can mental rotation and visuospatial imagery, too, arise in this involuntary manner? In the mental rotation task, subjects were first taught to mentally rotate two-dimensional objects. Subjects were then instructed to not mentally rotate objects. In the chess task, subjects were taught how to move in their minds objects in specified ways, much as one could imagine how chess pieces move on a chessboard. Subjects were then instructed to not have such visuospatial imagery. For both tasks, involuntary imagery occurred on a substantial proportion of trials, revealing that symbol manipulation can be influenced involuntarily through external control.