David Pearson (1998) Imagery Need not be Blind to Fail . Psycoloquy: 9(34) Cognitive Illusion (3)
Versions: ASCII formatted
Psycoloquy 9(34): Imagery Need not be Blind to Fail

IMAGERY NEED NOT BE BLIND TO FAIL
Commentary on Margolis on Cognitive-Illusion

David Pearson
Department of Psychology
University of Aberdeen
Aberdeen AB24 2UB, UK.

d.g.pearson@abdn.ac.uk

Abstract

Margolis (1998) argues that the mental rotation essential for an illusory collision in a Tychonic system cannot be "seen," because if conscious imagery represented the rotation the illusion would be immediately dispelled. However, a number of research studies have demonstrated circumstances in which individuals can fail to discover quite simple insights on the basis of mental imagery alone. Rather than arising from a form of "imagery blindsight," the persistence of the illusion can be accounted for by existing cognitive theories of mental discovery.

Keywords

blindsight, cognitive illusion, mental image, persuasion, psychology of science.

References