mental image
Thought you see
A mental image is a picture formed in the mind rather than perceived through the eyes.
You might hold a mental image of a childhood home, a loved one's face, or an imagined scene from a novel.
The term extends to any sensory impression conjured internally: I can't get the mental image out of my head.
Some people form vivid mental images; others think more abstractly.
Recalled mental image
- flashbackInvoluntary past memory
- reminiscenceRecalling past experiences
- nostalgiaLonging for the past
- autobiographicalConcerning one's own life
episodic · childhood · retrieval · remembering · vivid memory · snapshot · impression · afterimage
Imaginative mental wandering
- daydreamConscious fantasy while awake
- dreamSleeping mind's narrative
- visionAbility to see
- inventionNew device or method
creativity · make-believe · fiction · phantasm · hallucination · illusion · concoction · fabrication
Visual depiction of something
- depictionRepresentation in art
- representationDepiction or likeness
- renderingInterpretive depiction or performance
- illustrationPicture explaining something
projection · portrayal · sketch · diagram · map · mind's eye · visual thinking · conjuring
Abstract mental construct
- schemaOrganized representational structure
- prototypeFirst functional specimen
- abstractionDistilling to essential qualities
- ideaMental formation
notion · thought · understanding · perception · conceptualization · cognitive · construct · framework
Intensely clear and bright
- clearWithout obstruction or fog
- hazyUnclear, indistinct
- blurryIndistinct, lacking definition
- faintWeak and indistinct
sharp · detailed · distorted · fragmented · fleeting · persistent · intrusive · spontaneous
recollection
Recalled mental image
- flashbackInvoluntary past memory
- reminiscenceRecalling past experiences
- nostalgiaLonging for the past
autobiographical · episodic · childhood · retrieval · remembering · vivid memory · snapshot · impression · afterimage · indelible
fantasy
Imaginative mental wandering
invention · creativity · make-believe · fiction · phantasm · hallucination · illusion · concoction · fabrication · dreamscape
picture
Visual depiction of something
- depictionRepresentation in art
- representationDepiction or likeness
- renderingInterpretive depiction or performance
illustration · projection · portrayal · sketch · diagram · map · mind's eye · visual thinking · conjuring · envisioning
concept
Abstract mental construct
- schemaOrganized representational structure
- prototypeFirst functional specimen
- abstractionDistilling to essential qualities
idea · notion · thought · understanding · perception · conceptualization · cognitive · construct · framework · processing
vivid
Intensely clear and bright
faint · sharp · detailed · distorted · fragmented · fleeting · persistent · intrusive · spontaneous · evocative
- imaginationdaydreaming, daydreams, fantasies, fantasy, dreams
- memorizationrote learning, cramming, mnemonics, rehearsal, by heart
- memory aidsmnemonics, mnemonic, reminders, reminder, cue cards
- impressionsimpression, first impression, false impression, wrong impression, feeling
- comic elementsspeech bubble, word balloon, thought bubbles, dialogue box, scalloped edge
- imagerymetaphor, symbolism, allegory, sensory detail, visual metaphor
mental imagephotograph
Image from a camera
picture · public display · painting · drawing · sculpture
mental imagevisual perception
Ocular sensory processing
direct observation · sensory experience · lived experience · empirical observation
image, imagine, imagination, mental, imagined, imagining, imaginative, mentality, imaginable