IMAGERY in the development of concepts.
Once we have abstracted a bond, we need to be able to do something more than just remember it. We need to compare it to the bonds of other objects. The major process here is imagery.
Imagery is a quasi-perceptual experience of which we are aware, but which occurs in the absence of an external stimulus and which has different consequences than an external stimulus. It is a quasi-perceptual because its structure in our consciousness is similar to that of a percept.
We see, hear, smell and feel things, usually somewhat fuzzily, but sometimes so powerfully and clearly that it is impossible to distinguish them from reality.
When I take a hearing test, for example, and the tones are at threshold, I cannot often tell whether I am imagining the tone or whether there really is one.
In those instances where I am imaging a tone, I experience it in the absence of a stimulus.
NOTES: Here is more on Imagery
NOTES: A little bit more on Imagery.