The big picture in imagery research.

Reviews the book, Theories of image formation by David Marks (1986). This book contains 10 chapters spanning a wide range of views concerning the nature, function, and proper way to investigate mental imagery. It presents a striking variety of views and approaches. Some of the chapters are very good; the remaining chapters pale in comparison. Overall, the book provides what we might imagine as the big picture behind research on image formation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Context effects in Stroop-like word and picture processing.

Presents a series of 6 experiments in which Stroop-like effects were generated by modally pure color–color, picture–picture, and word–word stimuli instead of the usual modally mixed color–word or picture–word stimuli. Naming, reading, and categorization tasks were applied. The Stroop inhibition was preserved with these stimuli but unexpectedly showed a semantic gradient only in the naming and not in the reading task. Word categorizing was slower and more interference prone than picture categorizing. These and other results can be captured by a model with two main assumptions: (a) semantic memory and the lexicon are separate, and (b) words have privileged access to the lexicon, whereas pictures and colors have privileged access to the semantic network. Such a model is developed and put to an initial test. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of task-specific instructions on the picture memory of children in recall and recognition tasks.

A total of 72 kindergartners and 2nd and 5th graders were assigned to either a recall-specific instruction group or a remember instruction group to determine the developmental stage at which children are able to fashion stimulus encoding and/or storage activities so as to effectively meet the demands of an anticipated recall or recognition task. Results indicate that at least by age 11 (Grade 5), some recall-specific mediational capabilities have been developed and can be used effectively to facilitate performance in an anticipated recall task. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A note on anxiety, instructions, and word association performance.

In earlier work, a word association test (WAT) was presented under 2 conditions as a "sensitive personality test" and under neutral conditions. The resultant WAT scores were correlated with 2 tests of anxiety. The present work investigates the results of presenting the WAT as a sensitive measure of intelligence rather than personality. Again, the resultant scores were correlated with measures of anxiety. Sarason's Test Anxiety Scale (1958) appeared to be more sensitive to S's anxiety in the experimental situation than Taylor's MAS or Bendig's (1956) Lack of Protection Scale. The results are related to the nature and theory of anxiety. From Psyc Abstracts 36:01:3HK53S. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Competitive activation model of perceptual interference in picture and word identification.

Perceptual interference is the finding that prior exposures to a target item's partial features inhibit its later identification. This study tests a competitive activation model of perceptual interference that attributes interference to the activation of competing responses generated by prior cues. The authors examined 2 sets of data that seemed to be inconsistent or incompatible with the model. The first is the observed positive effect of viewing time of stimuli (J. S. Bruner and M. C. Potter, 1964). The second is the finding that interference occurs only for studied or primed words (Z. F. Peynircioglu, 1987; Peynircioglu and M. J. Watkins, 1986). Exps 1 and 2 showed paradoxical effects of viewing time and found evidence supporting the competitive activation model. Exps 3–6 failed to replicate Peynircioglu and Watkins's finding and showed that a performance level explanation compatible with the competitive activation model can account for all related results. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of phonetic and orthographic similarity in picture–word interference.

Two experiments with 40 Canadian undergraduates examined the effects of phonetic and orthographic similarity between the word and the picture's name to investigate the role these factors play in the picture-naming process. Results show that both orthographic and phonetic similarity facilitated picture naming in comparison to an unrelated word condition. Data suggest that this facilitation is not an output phenomenon and, as such, can be separated from the response-competition processes that lead to the basic interference effect. Instead, the locus of these effects appears to be the name-retrieval process, with orthographic and phonetic information from the word aiding in the search for the picture's name. (French abstract) (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Repetition versus luminance as a determinant of recognition.

Studied the effect of repeated brief exposures of single-letter stimuli on 4 normal hearing adults to determine whether the number of repetitions of a stimulus may be varied inversely with its luminance to produce a constant level of recognition performance. This postulated reciprocity relationship was refuted: performance always declined when the luminance was reduced (even though the number of repetitions increased). However, the deviation from reciprocity was small for stimuli at or above threshold luminance, and the facilitatory effect of repetition upon recognition was clearly shown for all luminance levels employed. Implications of the findings for models of visual information processing are discussed. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationships of measures of anxiety and experimental instructions to word association test performance.

The performance of Ss of differing anxiety levels on a word association task under 2 instructional conditions was questioned. The two sets of instructions used… differed in that one set informed S, prior to the word association task, he was about to take a personality test, whereas the other set of instructions was neutral. These instructions and the anxiety measures were then related (a) to S's ability to remember word associations he had given and (b) to the agreement of S's responses with those of normative group… . The results were discussed in terms of an interfering response interpretation of anxiety." 15 refs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Getting the picture: The use of imagery to clarify therapeutic impasses.

Contends that imagery can be used to disclose the nature of the client–therapist relationship and to resolve therapeutic impasses. The most common forms of impasses in the relationship are the result of therapist's misperceptions, the pacing of therapy dealing with acting-out behavior, difficulties induced by transference and countertransference, and difficulties in making alliances with severely disturbed patients. To uncover latent images in the therapist–client interaction, therapists imagine a metaphoric meeting place with a client, what they become to each other there or what other forms they take, the activity both might be engaged in, what a dance between the 2 might look like, what might be done differently, and what translations can be made from the imaginal to the actual therapeutic relationship. Case illustrations with 4 female and 2 male clients are given. It is suggested that images clarify the symbolic and affective elements of the internal world. (45 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Repetition effects in word and pseudoword identification: Comment on Salasoo, Shiffrin, and Feustel.

Discusses 2 recent articles by T. C. Feustel et al (see record 1984-08643-001) and A. Salasoo et al (see record 1986-03032-001), which argue that word identification is based on episodic and semantic memory. Feustel et al argued for separate processing stages affected by repetition (episodic memory) and lexicality (semantic memory). To account for the finding that number of repetitions interacts with lexicality, Salasoo et al invoked the same 2 types of memory, operating in parallel rather than serially. It is argued that data by Salasoo et al are compatible with a wide variety of competing theories, including some that do not involve episodic memory. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age of acquisition and word frequency effects in picture naming: A dual-task investigation.

In 2 experiments, the authors explored age of acquisition (AoA) and word frequency (WF) effects in picture naming using the psychological refractory period paradigm. In Experiment 1, participants named a picture and then, a short time later, categorized 1 of 3 possible auditory tones as high, medium, or low. Both AoA (Experiment 1A) and WF (Experiment 1B) effects propagated onto tone discrimination reaction times (RTs), with the effects of AoA being stronger. In Experiment 2, the to-be-named picture followed the auditory tone by a varying interval. As the interval decreased, picture naming RTs increased. The relationship between the interval and AoA (Experiment 2A) was reliably underadditive; AoA effects were eliminated at the shortest interval. In contrast, WF (Experiment 2B) was additive with the effects of the interval. These results demonstrate an empirical dissociation between AoA and WF effects. AoA affects processing stages that precede those that are sensitive to WF. The implications for theories of picture naming are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Processing picture--word stimuli: The contingent nature of picture and of word superiority.

Participants named (Experiments 1-2) or categorized (Experiments 3-4) the picture or the word of picture-word compounds that varied in the relative saliency of the 2 components and in the correlation between them over the experimental trials. Picture-word interference (PWI) was gauged through Stroop and Gamer effects. PWI was found to be malleable; its magnitude and very presence depending lawfully on the contextual variations introduced. The contingent nature of PWI is a fact to be reckoned with by theorists of picture-word processing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

EPPS n Achievement and verbal paired-associates learning.

"In the present study, performance on two lists of verbal paired-associates learning materials is used to examine the role of n Achievement as a possible drive variable… . Ss high in EPPS n Achievement demonstrated significant superiority over low n Achievers in… verbal learning situations." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Solving anagrams as a function of word frequency, imagery and distribution of practice.

While previous research has consistently demonstrated that anagrams with solution-words of high frequency are easier to solve than anagrams with solution-words of low frequency, the results for solution-word imagery have been contradictory. Experiment I involved the use of four six-item lists which varied factorially on imagery and frequency and were equated for meaningfulness and total bigram-position frequency. Eighteen Ss attempted to solve these anagrams under conditions of distributed practice and 18 Ss under massed practice. Data for solution latency and number of solutions revealed that anagrams were easier to solve if the solution-words were of high imagery or high frequency (ps ps     

On the word preferences of suicidal versus nonsuicidal college students.

Used a word preference format to investigate reactions to verbal stimuli of 21 suicidal and 21 nonsuicidal university students matched for age and sex. Six words with either aggressive or submissive denotative meanings significantly differentiated the 2 groups. In addition, the word suicide was selected at a higher frequency level by suicidal individuals when compared to their nonsuicidal counterparts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Emotional imagery in simple and social phobia: Fear versus anxiety.

In a 1st study, 60 phobic volunteer Ss reacted psychophysiologically with greater vigor to imagery of their own phobic content than to other fearful or nonaffective images. Imagery heart rate responses were largest in Ss with multiple phobias. For simple (dental) phobics, cardiac reactivity was positively correlated with reports of imagery vividness and concordant with reports of affective distress; these relationships were not observed for social (speech) phobics. In a 2nd study, these phobic volunteers were shown to be similar on most measures to an outpatient clinically phobic sample. In an analysis of the combined samples, fearful and socially anxious subtypes were defined by questionnaires. Only the fearful subtype showed a significant covariation among physiological responses, imagery vividness, and severity of phobic disorder. This fearful–anxious distinction seems to cut across diagnostic categories, providing a heuristic perspective from which to view anxiety disorders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of glucose, glucose regulation, and word imagery value on human memory.

Changes in memory performance were examined after intake of a glucose (50 g) or saccharin (50 mg) solution in fasted men and women. Glucoregulation was estimated by using a recovery index to categorize participants within each gender as having poor or good recovery. Memory was assessed with word-learning tasks in which the imagery-evoking value of the words was systematically manipulated to yield high- and low-imagery lists. The results showed that men and women characterized as having poor glucose regulation had significantly worse memory performance under the saccharin condition. This decrement was reversed by glucose ingestion. These effects were observed for both low- and high-imagery words. This study supports the hypothesis that poor glucoregulation is associated with poor memory performance even in young, healthy participants and that the ingestion of glucose can improve their memory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Repetition and encoding elaboration: Sequential multiple encodings versus single-trial multiple encodings.

Examined the role played by stimulus repetition in encoding elaboration in 3 experiments with 76 university students. In the 1st 2 experiments, Ss encoded an item twice, either in separate trials (with 2 stimulus presentations) or on the same trial (with 1 stimulus presentation). Results suggest that the number of times a stimulus is presented, not just the number of times the item is encoded, is an important factor affecting memory performance. The 3rd experiment shows that these results were not due to a massed vs distributed practice effect, but that task difficulty may have contributed. (French abstract) (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of word imagery on reading performance as a function of reader ability.

Conducted 3 experiments on the effects of word imagery, length, and frequency on reading difficulty. Ss were 27 8-10 yr old poor readers in Exp I, 24 8-11 yr old good readers in Exp II, and 10 poor and 10 good readers (mean age 9 yrs 6 mo) in Exp III. High frequency words were found to be easier to read for both good and poor readers. High-imagery words were easier to read for poor readers only. Word length had little effect on reading difficulty for either good or poor readers. The differential effect of word imagery on reading difficulty for good and poor readers is interpreted in terms of the types of reading strategy used--phonics for good readers and whole word reading for poor readers. When children are forced to learn to read words by a whole word method, word imagery predicts ease of learning for both good and poor readers. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)