simsang

Simsang is a Korean term most commonly written as 심상, and is often transliterated as sim-sang or simsang. The term combines the elements for mind and image, and is generally translated as mental imagery or visualization. In everyday use, 심상 refers to the ability to form mental pictures, sounds, or sensations without direct sensory input, and to the act of imagining or recreating experiences in the mind.

In psychology and education, 심상 is studied as a cognitive ability linked with memory, problem solving, and skill learning. Researchers distinguish visual imagery from other forms of imagery such as auditory or kinesthetic, and investigate how vividness of mental images affects recall and performance. Techniques that instruct people to form mental images are used to improve sports performance, language learning, and clinical therapies.

The term is also encountered in Korean literature and pedagogy to discuss imagination, visualization, or planning. Because of variations in romanization, you may see it spelled sim-sang or simsang in texts.

There is no single global standard meaning beyond its cognitive sense, and the term is more common in Korean-language sources than in English-language scholarship.