Involuntary mental rotation and visuospatial imagery from external control.

Abstract

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.