An asymmetrical relationship between verbal and visual thinking: Converging evidence from behavior and fMRI.
An asymmetrical relationship between verbal and visual thinking: Converging evidence from behavior and fMRI.
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DOI：
10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.03.029
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发表时间：
2017-05-15
期刊：
影响因子：
5.7
通讯作者：
Fedorenko E
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Amit E;Hoeflin C;Hamzah N;Fedorenko E
人类至少依靠两种思想方式：口头（内部语音）和视觉（图像）。这些模式是独立的吗，还是从事一种模式需要一种参与另一个模式？为了解决这个问题，我们进行了一项行为和fMRI研究。在行为实验中，参与者收到了提示，并被要求默默地生成句子或在他们的脑海中创建视觉图像。然后，他们被要求判断由此产生的代表的生动，以及另一种格式的可能伴随的代表。在fMRI实验中，参与者必须回忆给定提示，或者在控制，感知状态下读取句子或图像（在扫描会话之前熟悉的句子或图像）。内部语音和视觉图像之间观察到不对称性。特别是，在言语中，内在的语音比视觉思想更大程度地参与，但是在两种思想模式中，视觉图像的参与程度都相似。因此，似乎人们在故意的内部语音中产生了更强大的言语表达，而其意图是何时可视化。但是，无论他们的目的是可视化还是口头思考，它们都会产生视觉图像。对这些结果的一种可能解释是，鉴于人类发育过程中言语能力相对较晚和物种的发展，视觉思维是主要的。
Humans rely on at least two modes of thought: verbal (inner speech) and visual (imagery). Are these modes independent, or does engaging in one entail engaging in the other? To address this question, we performed a behavioral and an fMRI study. In the behavioral experiment, participants received a prompt and were asked to either silently generate a sentence or create a visual image in their mind. They were then asked to judge the vividness of the resulting representation, and of the potentially accompanying representation in the other format. In the fMRI experiment, participants had to recall sentences or images (that they were familiarized with prior to the scanning session) given prompts, or read sentences and view images, in the control, perceptual, condition. An asymmetry was observed between inner speech and visual imagery. In particular, inner speech was engaged to a greater extent during verbal than visual thought, but visual imagery was engaged to a similar extent during both modes of thought. Thus, it appears that people generate more robust verbal representations during deliberate inner speech compared to when their intent is to visualize. However, they generate visual images regardless of whether their intent is to visualize or to think verbally. One possible interpretation of these results is that visual thinking is somehow primary, given the relatively late emergence of verbal abilities during human development and in the evolution of our species.