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Visual imagery is different from visual
perception because visual perception requires the object to be actually present
and visual imagery does not. For example, when one says, "I see a rock," and there is
in fact a rock in sight, then that is a visual perception. If there were
not a rock in sight, that would be a visual image. However, if one thought
there was a rock actually present when in truth there was not, that would
be a visual hallucination. In a third case, if one refers to the memory of
the rock using some other kind of memory device such as verbal, abstract,
propositional, etc., then that would be a nonvisual memory and not a visual
image. Therefore,
visual imagery concerns seeing in one's mind an object as if
it were right there, when in fact it is not.