Visual recognition memory in reflective and impulsive children

Twenty-nine reflective and 29 impulsive fifth-grade boys were tested in a forced-choice visual recognition memory task. In three of the experimental conditions (1FD, 2FD, 4FD) the number of visual feature differences between the correct and incorrect test stimuli was 1, 2, or 4, and correct response could not be based on the name of the stimulus; in the fourth condition (DO) the correct and incorrect test stimuli had different names. As predicted, performance on DO and 4FD was equivalent and was superior to that on 1FD and 2FD. Although reflective Ss made more correct responses than impulsive Ss in all four conditions, only the performance difference in Condition 1FD was significant. Mean correct response latencies mirrored the correct response data. These results were consistent with the Selfridge-Neisser feature-testing model of recognition memory, and it was argued that the primary underlying basis for the dimension of reflection-impulsivity was that reflective Ss tend to engage in a more detailed visual feature analysis of stimulus arrays. Strong inferential evidence was provided that visual feature analysis independent of verbal labeling was responsible for successful recognition performance in these Ss.     

Eye fixations in prediction of recognition and recall

Eye fixations were recorded at viewing of picture-label stimuli presented under either recall or recognition instructions; both retention tests were administered. Ss performed substantially better on the retention test of which they were informed, indicating differential encoding of the same stimuli in anticipation of test type. There was no correlation between recognition and recall of items, evidence that different information from the encoded stimuli was utilized in performing each test. Encoding strategies had no effect on how Ss regarded the stimuli, but viewing patterns were related to memory performance: More word fixations was associated with better verbal recall, while fewer picture fixations was associated with better recall and with better picture recognition.     

Verbal mediation and memory for novel figural designs: a dual interference study

To the extent that all types of visual stimuli can be verbalized to some degree, verbal mediation is intrinsic in so-called "visual" memory processing. This impurity complicates the interpretation of visual memory performance, particularly in certain neurologically impaired populations (e.g., aphasia). The purpose of this study was to investigate the relative contributions of verbal mediation to recognition memory for visual stimuli that vary with respect to their amenability to being verbalized. In Experiment 1, subjects attempted to verbally describe novel figural designs during presentation and then identify them in a subsequent recognition memory test. Verbalizing these designs facilitated memory. Stimuli that were found to be easiest or most difficult to verbalize at the group level were retained for the second study. In Experiment 2, subjects evidenced superior recognition memory for the relatively easy to verbalize items. This advantage was attenuated in subjects who performed a concurrent verbal interference task during encoding, but not in those who performed an analogous visual interference task. These findings provide evidence that impoverished verbal mediation disproportionately impedes memory for visual material that is relatively easy to verbalize. Implications for the clinical assessment of visual memory are discussed.     

Using selective interference to investigate spatial memory representations

Two experiments used a selective interference procedure in an attempt to determine whether nonverbal visual stimuli were represented in memory in a verbal or spatial format. A spatial representation was clearly implicated. In both experiments, Ss were required to remember either the positions or the identities of seven target items in a 25-item array. During the retention interval for that information, Ss attempted to recognize schematic face or airplane photograph stimuli in a same-different memory task. Memory performance on one or both tasks was greatly impaired when the recall task involved position or spatial information, but was either much less or not at all affected by an identity or verbal information recall task. Because of the selective nature of the interference and on the basis of certain correlational evidence, the experimental results were also interpreted as providing support for the notion that verbal and spatial information are stored and processed in separate information-processing systems.     

Verbal overshadowing of visual memories: some things are better left unsaid

It is widely believed that verbal processing generally improves memory performance. However, in a series of six experiments, verbalizing the appearance of previously seen visual stimuli impaired subsequent recognition performance. In Experiment 1, subjects viewed a videotape including a salient individual. Later, some subjects described the individual's face. Subjects who verbalized the face performed less well on a subsequent recognition test than control subjects who did not engage in memory verbalization. The results of Experiment 2 replicated those of Experiment 1 and further clarified the effect of memory verbalization by demonstrating that visualization does not impair face recognition. In Experiments 3 and 4 we explored the hypothesis that memory verbalization impairs memory for stimuli that are difficult to put into words. In Experiment 3 memory impairment followed the verbalization of a different visual stimulus: color. In Experiment 4 marginal memory improvement followed the verbalization of a verbal stimulus: a brief spoken statement. In Experiments 5 and 6 the source of verbally induced memory impairment was explored. The results of Experiment 5 suggested that the impairment does not reflect a temporary verbal set, but rather indicates relatively long-lasting memory interference. Finally, Experiment 6 demonstrated that limiting subjects' time to make recognition decisions alleviates the impairment, suggesting that memory verbalization overshadows but does not eradicate the original visual memory. This collection of results is consistent with a recording interference hypothesis: verbalizing a visual memory may produce a verbally biased memory representation that can interfere with the application of the original visual memory.     

Visual recognition memory for complex configurations

Previous studies of recognition memory for heterogeneous pictorial stimuli suggest an unusually large storage and retrieval capacity. In the first experiment, three series of homogeneous pictures (faces, ink blots, snow crystals) were presented to six independent groups of Ss, and recognition was tested immediately or 48 h later. Accuracy and sex were related to stimulus configuration; at both time intervals, accuracy was best for faces and poorest for snow crystals. Levels of accuracy were below those attained in studies using heterogeneous arrays. The results of two other experiments suggest the relative unimportance of verbal mediation in recognition of homogeneous pictorial stimuli.     

Effect of task demands on dual coding of pictorial stimuli

Recent studies have suggested that verbal labeling of a picture does not occur automatically. Although several experiments using paired-associate tasks produced little evidence indicating the use of a verbal code with picture stimuli, the tasks were probably not sensitive to whether the codes were activated initially. It is possible that verbal labels were activated at input, but not used later in performing the tasks. The present experiment used a color-naming interference task in order to assess, with a more sensitive measure, the amount of verbal coding occurring in response to word or picture input. Subjects named the color of ink in which words were printed following either word or picture input. If verbal labeling of the input occurs, then latency of color naming should increase when the input item and color-naming word are related. The results provided substantial evidence of such verbal activation when the input items were words. However, the presence of verbal activation with picture input was a function of task demands. Activation occurred when a recall memory test was used, but not when a recognition memory test was used. The results support the conclusion that name information (labels) need not be activated during presentation of visual stimuli.     

Modality effects and the structure of short-term verbal memory

The effects of auditory and visual presentation upon short-term retention of verbal stimuli are reviewed, and a model of the structure of short-term memory is presented. The main assumption of the model is that verbal information presented to the auditory and visual modalities is processed in separate streams that have different properties and capabilities. Auditory items are automatically encoded in both the A (acoustic) code, which, in the absence of subsequent input, can be maintained for some time without deliberate allocation of attention, and a P (phonological) code. Visual items are retained in both the P code and a visual code. Within the auditory stream, successive items are strongly associated; in contrast, in the visual modality, it is simultaneously presented items that are strongly associated. These assumptions about the structure of short-term verbal memory are shown to account for many of the observed effect of presentation modality.     

Differcntial feature analysis in the recognition memory of reflective and impulsive children

Seventy-two children. 18 reflective, and 18 impulsive first and fifth graders were tested in a forced-choice recognition memory task. Experimental conditions systematically varied the possibility that correct responses could be made on the basis of verbal labels, visual feature analyses, or both. Although reflective children made more correct recognition choices than did impulsive children under all experimental conditions, this difference was, as predicted, significant only in a condition in which the sole basis for correct response depended on a purely visual feature analysis. Order of condition difficulty indicated that visual feature analysis independent of verbal processes was responsible for successful recognition performance in these Ss. Results were discussed with reference to the feature-testing model for recognition proposed by Selfridge and Neisser.     

Verbal recoding of visual stimuli impairs mentalimagetransformations

Two experiments were carried out to test the hypothesis that verbal recoding of visual stimuli in short-term memory influences long-term memory encoding and impairs subsequent mental image operations. Easy and difficult-to-name stimuli were used. When rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise, each stimulus revealed a new pattern consisting of two capital letters joined together. In both experiments, subjects first learned a short series of stimuli and were then asked to rotate mental images of the stimuli in order to detect the hidden letters. In Experiment 1, articulatory suppression was used to prevent subjects from subvocal rehearsal when learning the stimuli, whereas in Experiment 2, verbal labels were presented with each stimulus during learning to encourage a reliance on the verbal code. As predicted, performance in the imagery task was significantly improved by suppression when the stimuli were easy to name (Experiment 1) but was severely disrupted by labeling when the stimuli were difficult to name (Experiment 2). We concluded that verbal recoding of stimuli in short-term memory during learning disrupts the ability to generate veridical mental images from long-term memory.     

Coding strategies and cerebral laterality effects

In a short-term recognition memory task, Ss were given relational imagery and rehearsal coding strategies in different sessions, with probes presented to the left or right cerebral hemisphere. Consistent with a model of separate processing systems for verbally and visually coded information, Ss yielded significantly faster response latencies for probes to the left hemisphere than the right when employing the rehearsal strategy, and significantly faster latencies for probes to the right hemisphere than the left when using the imagery code. This suggests that cerebral laterality effects are functionally related to coding strategies, and argues for the inclusion of imagery, or generated visual information, as part of the visual processing system. As such, generated visual information may be viewed as a coding alternative to verbal mediation.     

Intact and long-lasting repetition priming in amnesia.

In 2 experiments, we evaluated the ability of amnesic patients to exhibit long-lasting perceptual priming after a single exposure to pictures. Ss named pictures as quickly as possible on a single occasion, and later named the same pictures mixed with new pictures. In Experiment 1, amnesic patients exhibited fully intact priming effects lasting at least 7 days. In Experiment 2, the priming effect for both groups was shown to depend on both highly specific visual information and on less visual, more conceptual information. In contrast, recognition memory was severely impaired in the patients, as assessed by both accuracy and response time. The results provide the first report of a long-lasting priming effect in amnesic patients, based on a single encounter, which occurs as strongly in the patients as in normal Ss. Together with other recent findings, the results suggest that long-lasting priming and recognition memory depend on separate brain systems.     

Human sensory dominance

Human Ss matched an auditory and a visual stimulus for subjective magnitude. Then each stimulus was used as a cue in a reaction time task. On occasions when both stimuli were presented simultaneously, Ss’ responding was seen to be dominated by the visual stimulus. Of further interest was the finding that on some occasions of simultaneous light-tone presentation Ss were unaware that the tone had been presented. This apparent prepotency of the visual over the auditory stimulus was seen to persist across a variety of experimental conditions, which included giving Ss verbal instructions to respond to the tone when both stimuli were presented simultaneously.     

Immediate recognition memory for wine

We describe a preliminary investigation concerning the short-term recognition memory function for gustatory stimuli (wines). In Experiment 1A, 24 non-expert wine drinkers completed a yes/no recognition task for 3-wine sequences. For the raw recognition scores, the serial position function comprised both primacy and recency. Recency did not, however, achieve significance for the d′ scores. In Experiment 1B, 24 participants completed the same yes/no recognition task for 3-visual matrix sequences. In contrast to Experiment 1A, the serial position function comprised recency and an absence of primacy. We argue that the presence of primacy for the wine sequences cannot be interpreted via a verbal labelling strategy, nor can it be interpreted via proactive interference from the first wine in the list on subsequent list items. The result suggests qualitative differences in the memory processing for gustatory and non-verbal visual stimuli.     

Recognition hypermnesia: How to get it

Although recall hypermnesia (enhanced recall) over time with repeated testing has by now become an established empirical fact, its recognition counterpart, recognition hypermnesia, has defied clear-cut laboratory confirmation. In four studies, which relied on the retrieval component of recognition memory, it was shown that recognition memory, indexed by d′, reliably improved over three successive recognition tests. The stimuli consisted of 140 cartoons, each comprising a picture and a verbal caption. Recognition memory was tested on transforms or part-forms (parts) of the original stimulus material (pictures only, verbal paraphrases of the pictures, the latent content of the cartoons, or the combination of paraphrases and latent contents). The strongest effects were obtained when the originally presented cartoons were tested on their latent (deep semantic) contents. Recognition hypermnesia for part-forms or transforms of earlier presented stimuli has potentially wide-ranging implications since real-world recognition—of faces, texts, visual scenes—usually involves recognising stimuli that are variants, not exact copies, of the originally encountered materials.     

Effects of concurrent verbal memory on recognition of stimuli from the left and right visual fields.

Two experiments examined the effect of concurrently holding 0, 2, 4, or 6 nouns in memory on the recognition of visual stimuli briefly presented to the left or right visual fields. When stimuli to be visually recognized were complex visuospatial forms it was found that a relatively easy memroy load of 2 or 4 nouns improved visual recognition accuracy on right visual field (left-hemisphere) trials relative to the no-memory condition; however, a more difficult memory load of 6 nouns decreased visual recognition accuracy to a level slightly below the no-memory condition. There were no effects of concurrent verbal memroy on visual form recognition on left visual field (right-hemisphere) trials. When the stimuli to be visually recognized were words it was found that a relatively easy memroy load of 2 or 4 nouns improved visual recognition accuracy and a more difficult load of 6 nouns decreased visual recognition accuracy on both left and right visual field trials. The complete pattern of results indicates that several factors including cerebral hemisphere specialization, stimulus codability, selective perceptual orientation, and selective cerebral hemisphere interference interact in systematic ways to produce overall visual laterality effects.