Dificultades en el desarrollo de las acciones de sensibilización de los

Static and dynamic pictorial images were used in previous experimental studies as a source of investigation into visual analogies in insight problem solving and creative problem solving, and their impact on human creative activities or created products. This section describes the properties of the pictorial surface of elements used in the visual analogy development process, as well as the psychological space in which the main elements of analogy will be placed and how analogy will be conveyed in the picture frame (paper, TV screen).

3.3.1 Pictorial Properties of Visual Analogy

Giving explicit instructions to use analogy and exposing subjects to visual displays, Casakin and Goldschmidt (1999) examined how this method could contribute to the enhancement of design in problem solving. The goal in their investigation was to gather evidence on the effect on the performance expert-novice designers involved in a creative design problem when stimulated by visual analogy. In their experiment, a group of experts and a group of novice designers participated. Twelve images related to the architectural domain and 12 images related to other fields were used as visual stimuli for solving three creative design problems. In the paper, there is only one example of the displays used in the experiment as a source for solving one of the three problems; only four pictorial and three 2D images were used for the visual display. Therefore, it is unclear and difficult to deduct from the report which visual displays worked best. Firstly, this is because the ratio of used pictorial 2D images, as a strong source for the solution, was not mentioned, and secondly, the result was scored on a scale as a creative solution and not as a well-defined insightful problem. Thirdly, the figure-ground relation of dimensionality was not described in their report for any of the used visual material in experiment. “The figure-ground relation represents the perception of

dimensionality on a flat surface, and no more than two planes are considered. Both of them have to be boundless, and one lies in front of the other” (Arnheim, 1974). The simplicity of their shapes and symmetry predisposes one area to function as the figure and the other as the ground. Adding more information to the image, we tend to see, at a different level depending on our knowledge and experience, three-dimensionality. Why do we see depth? The law of simplicity is the key to this question. “A pattern will appear 3D when it can be seen as the projection of a 3D situation that is structurally simpler than the 2D one” according to Arnheim (1974). Artists use the relative size of an object, its occlusion, orientation, elevation, shadows, texture gradients, colours, linear and atmospheric perspective to show the illusion of depth on a 2D surface (e.g., canvas, paper, or TV screen). Robert Solso (1994, p. 162) classifies these elements of depth perception as pictorial cues.

3.3.2 Scale and Multiple Psychologies of Space

A relevant model for organising the visual elements in analogy is the concept of spatial scale proposed by Montello (1993), whereby he classified the properties of objects in space into multiple spatial psychologies. Visual working memory and visual perception regularly interact with each other at several levels. The memory contents influence the visual perception each time they interact. According to recent evidence, the contents of visual working memory may affect the perception of presented stimuli in a scene (Pan, Zuo, & Yi, 2013). They can guide visual perceptual selection (Olivers, Meijer, & Theeuwes, 2006; Pan, Xu, & Soto, 2009; Soto, Heinke, Humphreys, & Blanco, 2005) and alter perceptual experience (Saad & Silvanto, 2013; Scocchia, Cicchini, & Triesch, 2013). In this development process, I am concerned with the question of how size, depth and space can be represented in visual analogies to match the target correspondences. Space is a fundamental part of human cognitive functioning in daily life, a communication tool, and it also plays a significant role in image-making domains. The critical role of spatial perception is not simply determined by the space perceived by the visual retina; factors like the angle, distance, elevation, occluded objects, contextual cues and even sound can alter visual perception of the size of and space occupied by objects.

As visual analogies are developed for the purpose of aiding problem solving, the terms of psychological properties of space proposed by Montello (1993) will be used throughout the whole process of visual analogy development for this study including

my diary notes. Montello (1993) called for a distinction between the properties of space when they are studied as problems in information systems or geography (e.g., cartographic coding and decoding) and the properties of space when studying human perception, behaviour and thought. He argues that the relationships between objects in space are treated as scale-independent in terms of the properties of space for information systems or geography, whereas the property of space in studying human perception, behaviour, and thought is not scale-independent. Although the author offers considerable evidence for the importance of a qualitative psychological scale classification, he suggests further directions for investigation to obtain more evidence on its validity and utility. Also, such a distinction could help researchers answer questions about what and how humans can learn about space from a direct experience, so he proposes the classification of psychological space in multiple scale classes. Montello’s scale of space classification is based on the projective size of objects in space relative to the human body with a focus on the functional properties of each class. Figural space can be perceived from one place and does not need appreciable body movement. It is a space of small objects (object space) and pictures (pictorial space) that can be touched and/or manipulated to grasp their spatial properties.

Vista space can be visually captured without significant movement from one place as well. However, this is the space of single rooms, visible streets, town squares and horizons where space is projectively about the body size or larger.

Environmental space is the space of cities, large buildings and stadiums which are much greater than body size and the properties of which must be apprehended from direct experience requiring considerable locomotion over a period of time.

Geographical space cannot be apprehended from direct experience through body locomotion; it refers to an area of countries, the solar system and the like, which require the integration of spatial information into instances of figural pictorial spaces as symbolic representations such as maps, models, or graphs.