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The Project Gutenberg EBook of Power of Mental Imagery, by Warren Hilton

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Title: Power of Mental Imagery

Being the Fifth of a Series of Twelve Volumes on the

Applications of Psychology to the Problems

of Personal and

Business Efficiency

Author: Warren Hilton

Release Date: September 2, 2007 [EBook

#22489]

Applied Psychology

POWER OF

MENTAL

IMAGERY

Being the Fifth of a Series of

Twelve Volumes on the Applications

of Psychology to the Problems of Personal and Business

Efficiency

BY

WARREN HILTON, A.B., L.L.B.

FOUNDER OF THE SOCIETY OF APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY

ISSUED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF

THE LITERARY DIGEST

FOR

The Society of Applied Psychology

NEW YORK AND LONDON

Chapter

I IMAGINATION AND

RECOGNITION

RECOGNIZING THE PAST

AS PAST

IMAGINATION, PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

II KINDS OF

MENTAL IMAGES

VISUAL IMAGERY

AUDITORY IMAGERY

IMAGERY OF TASTE AND SMELL

MUSCULAR AND

TACTUAL IMAGERY PERSONAL

DIFFERENCES IN

MENTAL IMAGERY INVESTIGATIONS OF DOCTOR GALTON

INVESTIGATIONS OF PROFESSOR JAMES INVESTIGATIONS OF PROFESSOR SCOTT

A RULE FOR

INFLUENCING OTHERS APPLICATION TO

FINDING OUT YOUR WEAK POINTS

TESTS FOR VISUAL

HOW TO CULTIVATE MENTAL IMAGERY

V THE CREATIVE IMAGINATION

THE PROCESS OF

CREATIVE IMAGINATION BUSINESS AND

FINANCIAL

IMAGINATION

HOW WEALTH IS

HOW TO TAKE RADICAL STEPS IN BUSINESS THE EXPANSION OF BUSINESS IDEALS

RISING TO THE

EMERGENCY

THE CONSTRUCTIVE IMAGINATION

LITTLE TASKS AND BIG TASKS

WORKING UP A

DEPARTMENT

IMAGINATION IN

HANDLING EMPLOYEES

HOW TO TEST AN EMPLOYEE’S

IMAGINATION

IMAGINATION IN

BUSINESS GENERALLY IMAGINATION AND ACTION

IMAGINATION AND RECOGNITION

Chapter I

IMAGINATION AND RECOGNITION

n the preceding volume of this

Course, entitled “The TrainedMemory,” you learned that the memoryprocess involves four elements, Retention,Recall, Recognition and Imagination; andthe scope and operation of two of theseelements, Retention and Recall, wereexplained to you

There remain Recognition andImagination, which we shall make thesubject of this book We shall treat ofthem, however, not only as parts of the

memory process, but also as distinctoperations, with an individualsignificance and value.

Both Recognition and Imagination have to

do with mental images

Recognition relates exclusively to thosemental images that are the replica of

former experiences It is the faculty of the

mind by which we recognize remembered experiences as a part of our own past If

it were not for this sense of familiarity and

of ownership and of the past tense ofrecalled mental images, there would be noway for us to distinguish the sense-perceptions of the past from those of thepresent

Recognition is therefore an element of

vital necessity to every act of memory.Imagination relates either to the past, thepresent or the future On the one hand, it isthe outright re-imagery in the mind’s eye

of past experiences On the other hand, it

is the creation of new and original mentalimages or visions by the recombination ofold experiential elements

THIS ADVERTISEMENT COMBINES DIFFERENT ELEMENTS IN A SKILFUL APPEAL TO THE SENSES SEE TEXT,

PAGE 34

[Textual representation of advertisement

KINDS OF MENTAL

IMAGES

Chapter II

mental pictures of things seen Mental

images are representations of past mental experiences of any and every kind They include past sensations of

sound, taste, smell, feeling, pain, motionand the other senses, as well as sensations

of sight One may have a mental image ofthe voice of a friend, of the perfume of aflower, just as he may have mental images

of their appearance to the eye Indeed, the

term “image” is perhaps unfortunatelyused in this way, since it must be made toinclude not only mental pictures in avisual sense, but all forms of reproductivemental activity.

Our recollection of past experiences may

be either full and distinct or hazy andinadequate Some persons are entirelyunable to reproduce certain kinds ofsensory experiences Somehow they areaware of having had these experiences,but they cannot reproduce them Every one

of us has his own peculiarities

This morning I called upon a friend in hisoffice I was there but a short time Yet Ican easily call to mind every detail of thesurroundings I can see the exterior of thebuilding, its form, size, color, window-

boxes with flowers, red tile roof, formalgardens in the open court, and even many

of the neighboring buildings I can plainlyrecall the color of the carpet on his officefloor, the general tone of the paper on thewall, the size, type and material of hisdesk, and many other elements going tomake up an almost perfect mentalduplicate of the scene itself I can evensee my friend sitting at his desk, and candistinctly remember the color, cut andtexture of his clothing and just how helooked when he smiled

Last evening we entertained a number offriends at dinner One of the ladies was anaccomplished musician, and later in theevening she delighted us with herexquisite playing upon the piano The airs

she played were familiar to me I am fond

of music and I enjoyed her playing I cansit here today and in imagination I can seeher seated before the piano and rememberjust how her hands looked as she fingeredthe keys But I find it difficult to recall theair of the selection or the tones of thepiano My mental images of the notes asthey came from the piano are faint anduncertain and not nearly so distinct andclear as my recollection of the scene

I find it easy to recall the appearance ofthe food that was served me for breakfastthis morning I can also faintly imagine theodor and taste of the coffee and toast, but Ifind that these images of taste and smellare not nearly so realistic as my mentalimages of what I saw and heard during the

course of the meal.

When I was in college I was very fond ofhandball and was a member of thehandball team It has been many yearssince I played the game, yet I candistinctly feel the peculiar tension of theright arm and shoulder muscles thataccompanied the “service.” Nor do I feelthe slightest difficulty in evoking a distinctmental image of the prickly sensations that

so annoyed me as a boy when I would firstput on woolen underwear in the fall of theyear

From these examples, it is apparent that

we can form mental images of pastsensations of sight, sound, taste, smell andfeeling, and indeed of every kind,including the muscular or motor sense and

the sense of heat and cold.

But there is the greatest possibledifference in individuals in this respect.Some persons have distinct images ofthings they have seen, are goodvisualizers Others are weak in thisrespect, but have clear auditory images.And so as to all the various kinds ofsensory images

This is a fact of comparatively recentdiscovery The first proponent of the ideawas Fechner, but no statistical work wasdone in this line until Galton entered thefield, in 1880 In his “Inquiries intoHuman Faculties,” he says:

“To my astonishment, I found that the greatmajority of the men of science to whom I

first applied protested that mental imagerywas unknown to them, and they looked on

me as fanciful and fantastic in supposingthat the words ‘mental imagery’ reallyexpressed what I believed everybodysupposed them to mean They had no morenotion of its true nature than a color-blindman, who has not discerned his defect, has

of the nature of color They had a mentaldeficiency of which they were unawareand naturally enough supposed that thosewho affirmed they possessed it wereromancing.”

The investigations of Dr Galton werecontinued by Professor James, of HarvardUniversity He collected from hundreds ofpersons descriptions of their own mentalimages The following are extracts from

two cases of distinctly different types Theone who is a good visualizer says:

“This morning’s breakfast-table is bothdim and bright; it is dim if I try to think of

it with my eyes closed All the objects areclear at once, yet when I confine myattention to any one object it becomes farmore distinct I have more power to recallcolor than any other one thing; if, forexample, I were to recall a platedecorated with flowers I could reproduce

in a drawing the exact tone, etc The color

of anything that was on the table isperfectly vivid There is very littlelimitation to the extent of my images; I cansee all four sides of a room; I can see allfour sides of two, three, four, even morerooms with such distinctness that if you

should ask me what was in any particularplace in any one, or ask me to count thechairs, etc., I could do it without the leasthesitation The more I learn by heart themore clearly do I see images of my pages.Even before I can recite the lines I seethem so that I could give them very slowlyword for word, but my mind is sooccupied in looking at my printed imagethat I have no idea of what I am saying, ofthe sense of it, etc When I first foundmyself doing this I used to think it wasmerely because I knew the linesimperfectly; but I have quite convincedmyself that I really do see an image Thestrongest proof that such is really the fact

is, I think, the following:

“I can look down the mentally seen page

and see the words that commence all thelines, and from any one of these words Ican continue the line I find this mucheasier to do if the words begin as in astraight line than if there are breaks.Example:

(La Fontaine S IV.)”

The poor visualizer says:

“My ability to form mental images seems,

from what I have studied of other people’simages, to be defective, and somewhatpeculiar The process by which I seem toremember any particular event is not by aseries of distinct images, but a sort ofpanorama, the faintest impressions ofwhich are perceptible through a thick fog

—I cannot shut my eyes and get a distinctimage of anyone, although I used to beable to a few years ago, and the facultyseems to have gradually slipped away * *

* In my most vivid dreams, where theevents appear like the most real facts, I amoften troubled with a dimness of sightwhich causes the images to appearindistinct * * * To come to the question ofthe breakfast-table, there is nothingdefinite about it Everything is vague Icannot say what I see I could not possibly

count the chairs, but I happen to know thatthere are ten I see nothing in detail * * *The chief thing is a general impressionthat I cannot tell exactly what I do see.The coloring is about the same, as far as Ican recall it, only very much washed out.Perhaps the only color I can see at alldistinctly is that of the tablecloth, and Icould probably see the color of the wallpaper if I could remember what color itwas.”

This difference between individuals isjust as marked in the matter of ability to

fo r m auditory images as in respect to

visual images.

Thus, Professor Walter Dill Scott, ofNorthwestern University, cites thefollowing:

“One student who has strong auditoryimagery writes as follows: ‘When I think

of the breakfast-table I do not seem tohave a clear visual image of it I can seethe length of it, the three chairs—though Ican’t tell the color or shape of these—thewhite cloth and something on it, but I can’tsee the pattern of the dishes or any of thefood I can very plainly hear the rattle ofthe dishes and of the silver and above thishear the conversation, also the othernoises, such as a train which passes everymorning while we are at breakfast Again,

in a football game I distinctly hear thenoise, but do not see clearly anything oranybody I hear the stillness wheneveryone is intent and then the loudcheering Here I notice the differences ofpitch and tone.’

“I had read that some people were unable

to imagine sounds which they had heard,but it had not impressed me, for I hadsupposed that such persons were greatexceptions I was truly surprised when Ifound so many of my students writingpapers similar to those from whichextracts are here given: ‘My mentalimagery is visual, as I seem to see thingsand not hear, feel or smell them Theelement of sound seems practically never

to enter in When I think of a table or a football game I have a distinctimage I see colors, but hear no sound.’

breakfast-THIS ADVERTISEMENT AWAKENS THE WRONG KIND OF MENTAL IMAGES SEE

TEXT, PAGE 34

[Textual representation of advertisement

“Another in describing his image of a

railroad-train, writes: ‘I am not able to

state whether I hear the train or not I am

inclined to think that it is a noiseless one

It is hard for me to conceive of the sound

of a bell, for instance I can see the bell

move to and fro, and for an instant seem to

hear the ding, dong; but it is gone before I

can identify it When I try to conceive of

shouts I am like one groping in the dark I

cannot possibly retain the conception of a

sound for any length of time.’

“Another, who seems to have no vivid

images of any kind, writes: ‘When I recallthe breakfast-table I see it and the personsaround it The number of them is distinct,for there is only one of them on each side

of the table But they seem like mereobjects in space Only when I think ofeach separately do I clearly see them Asfor the table, all I see is a generalwhiteness, interspersed with objects Ihear nothing at all, and indeed the wholething is so indistinct it bewilders me when

I think of it My mental imagery is veryvague and hazy, unless I have previouslytaken special notice of what I now have animage of For instance, when I have animage of a certain person I cannot tell hisparticular characteristics unless myattention was formerly directed to them.’

“Another writes: ‘There is no sound inconnection with any image Inremembering, I call up an incident andgradually fill out the details I can veryseldom recall how anything sounds Onesound from the play “Robespierre,” byHenry Irving, which I heard about twoyears ago and which I could recall sometime afterward, I have been unable torecall this fall, though I have tried to do

so I can see the scene quite perfectly, theposition of the actors and stage setting,even the action of a player who broughtout the sound.’

“Quite a large proportion of persons find

it impossible to imagine motion at all Asthey think of a football game, all theplayers are standing stock-still; they are as

they are represented in a photograph Theyare in the act of running, but no motion isrepresented Likewise, the banners andstreamers are all motionless They find itimpossible to think of such a thing asmotion Others find that the motions arethe most vivid part of their images Whatthey remember of a scene is principallymovement.

“One writes: ‘When the word table” was given out I saw our breakfast-table at home, especially the table and thewhite tablecloth The cloth seemed to bethe most distinct object I can see each one

“breakfast-in his place at the table I can see no colorexcept that of the tablecloth The dishesare there, but are very indistinct I cannothear the rattle of the dishes or the voices

very distinctly; the voices seem muchlouder than the dishes, but neither are veryclear I can feel the motions which I makeduring the breakfast hour I feel myselfcome in, sit down and begin to eat I cansee the motions of those about me quiteplainly I believe the feeling of motionwas the most distinct feeling I had Whenthe word “railroad-train” was given I sawthe train very plainly just stopping in front

of the depot I saw the people getting onthe train; these people were veryindistinct It is their motions rather thanthe people themselves which I see I canfeel myself getting on the train, finding aseat, and sitting down I cannot hear thenoise of the train, but can hear ratherindistinctly the conductor calling thestations I believe my mental imagery is

more motile (of movement) than anythingelse Although I can see some things quiteplainly, I seem to feel the movements mostdistinctly.’

“A very few in describing their images ofthe breakfast-table made special mention

of the taste of the food and of its odor Ihave discovered no one whose prevailingimagery is for either taste or smell Withvery many the image of touch is veryvivid They can imagine just how velvetfeels, how a fly feels on one’s nose, thediscomfort of a tight shoe, and thepleasure of stroking a smooth marblesurface.”