Mental representations have continuous as well as discrete, combinatorial properties. For example, while predominantly discrete, phonological representations also vary continuously; this is reflected by gradient effects in instrumental studies of speech production. Can an integrated theoretical framework address both aspects of structure? The framework we introduce here, Gradient Symbol Process...

Mental time travel (MTT) is the ability to mentally project oneself backward in time to relive past experiences and forward in time to pre-live possible future experiences. Previous work has focused on MTT in its voluntary (controlled) form. Here, we introduce the notion of involuntary (spontaneous) MTT. We examined involuntary versus voluntary and past versus future MTT in a diary study. We fo...

The reconciliation of theories of concepts based on prototypes, exemplars, and theory-like structures is a longstanding problem in cognitive science. In response to this problem, researchers have recently tended to adopt either hybrid theories that combine various kinds of representational structure, or eliminative theories that replace concepts with a more finely grained taxonomy of mental rep...

This paper1 proposes a new approach to mental imagery that has the potential for resolving an old debate. We show that the methods by which fractals emerge from dynamical systems provide a natural computational framework for the relationship between the “deep” representations of long-term visual memory and the “surface” representations of the visual array, a distinction which was proposed by (K...

Although few studies have systematically investigated the relationship between visual mental imagery and visual working memory, work on the effects of passive visual interference has generally demonstrated a dissociation between the two functions. In four experiments, we investigated a possible commonality between the two functions: We asked whether both rely on depictive representations. Parti...

Humans rely heavily on vision to identify objects in the world and can create mental representations of the objects they encounter. Objects can also be identified and mentally represented through haptic exploration. However, it is unclear whether prior visual experience is necessary to generate these internal representations. Subject EA, an early blind artist, provides insight into this questio...

The precise structure of speech sound representations is still a matter of debate. In the present neurobiological study, we compared predictions about differential sensitivity to speech contrasts between models that assume full specification of all phonological information in the mental lexicon with those assuming sparse representations (only contrastive or otherwise not predictable information...

a r t i c l e i n f o Recursive mindreading is the ability to embed mental representations inside other mental representations e.g. to hold beliefs about beliefs about beliefs. An advanced ability to entertain recursively embedded mental states is consistent with evolutionary perspectives that emphasise the importance of sociality and social cognition in human evolution: high levels of recursiv...

A basic task in spreadsheet analysis in order to understand the structure of a given spreadsheet is that of finding precedent cells (cells that are referenced in the formula of a given cell). The cognitive fit theory is used to analyze this task. Current applications of the cognitive fit theory assert a fit when the information emphasized by the task matches the information emphasized by the pr...

What is the form of mental representation? One very influential contemporary answer to this question starts from the assumption that the brain functions like a Turing machine. This assumption, which is basically a metaphor, provides the foundation for much theoretical speculation in cognitive science and related fields. According to one version of the computer metaphor, the atoms of mental repr...