Source: Laboratory of Jonathan Flombaum—Johns Hopkins University

Visual mental imagery refers to the ability to conjure images in one’s mind’s eye. This allows people to process visual material above and beyond the constraints of a current point-of-view; for example, a person could imagine, using their mind’s eye, how something might look in a different color, or what it would look like if it were made from a different material or rotated and seen from a different perspective. Mental imagery seems to support important human behaviors in many contexts. For example, people report visualizing routes and maps when planning a route or giving directions. They report visualizing movements, such as swinging a bat, to prepare for an actual action. They also report the mental rotation of objects in order to consider how an object might fit into a receptacle or clear a barrier.

This video demonstrates how to use the mental rotation procedure in order to investigate visual mental imagery.