Behavioral and Brain Sciences



Short Communication

Time matters! Implications from mentally imaged motor actions


Markus Raab a1 and Marc Boschker a2
a1 Center for Adaptive Behavior and Cognition, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, 10195 Berlin, Germany raab@mpib-berlin.mpg.de www.mpib-berlin.mpg.de
a2 Department of Movement Behavior, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands mboschker@fbw.vu.nl www.fbw.vu.nl/~mboschker/

Abstract

Pylyshyn provides sound arguments against the dominant picture theory of mental imagery. However, we claim that mental imagery is intrinsically dynamic and that the very nature of mental imagery will not be uncovered by studying static pictures. Understanding mental imagery of motor actions reveals that any theory of mental imagery should start off with the temporal nature of real-life experiences.