This is the second book in the Counterpoints series and focuses on alternative models of visual-spatial processing in human cognition. Over the last twenty years, theories and research relating to visual-spatial cognition have been of central interest to a broad range of psychologists - in areas of perception, memory, neuropsychology, and problem solving. This book offers extended chapters from three of the most respected and recognized investigators in the field: Michel Denis, Margaret Intons-Peterson, and Philip Johnson-Laird. The arguments are integrated, and ideas for new directions and new research are offered.

This second volume in the Counterpoints Series, which explores issues in psychology, child development, linguistics, and neuroscience, focuses on alternative models of visual-spatial processing in human cognition. This text offers extended chapters from three of the most respected and recognized investigators in the field: Michel Denis, Margaret Intons-Peterson, and Philip Johnson-Laird. Denis considers the role of mental imagery in spatial cognition and topographical orientation; images are viewed as a form of mental representation that is similar to real-world objects. Intons-Peterson examines spatial representation in short-term, or working-memory, considering the relationship of visual-spatial processes to subjects' expectations and individual differences. Johnson-Laird approaches the issue of visual-spatial representation from a "mental models" perspective, considering the relationship of images to various cognitive events. The editors provide a historical and theoretical introduction; and a final chapter integrates the arguments of the chapters, offering ideas about new directions and new research designs.