Effects of eye movements on the rate of discovery and the vividness of visual images

Two studies investigated the effects of eye movements on the rate of discovery and the vividness of visual images. Eye movements were manipulated by having three conditions: (1) The Ss were instructed to make eye movements while generating images to noun pairs; (2) the Ss were instructed not to make eye movements, but to think about making eye movements while generating images to noun pairs; (3) the Ss were instructed not to make eye movements and not to think about making eye movements while generating images to noun pairs. In addition, the ease of generating images was manipulated by using noun pairs that differed in their image-evoking capacity; five of the noun pairs consisted of high imagery-evoking nouns and five consisted of low imagery-evoking nouns. The two experiments were similar, with the exception that a between-groups design was used in Experiment 1, whereas Experiment 2 employed a within-Ss design. The results of both experiments showed highly significant effects of noun-pair type on both the rate of discovery and the vividness of images, with the fastest and most vivid images occuring to the high-imagery noun pairs. The effects of the eye-movement conditions on the rate of discovery and the vividness of the images were not significant in either experiment, and these findings are discussed in terms of the relationship of ocular activity to imagery.     

The role of imagery in incidental learning of educable retarded and normal children

Forty-five educable retarded and 45 normal children were given an orientation task in which noun- and picture-paired associates were presented once or four times under one of three instructional conditions: intentional imagery, incidental imagery, or intentional control (no imagery). An immediate associative recall test showed both imagery conditions to be superior to the intentional control condition. Furthermore, imagery instructions facilitated incidental recall of the retarded Ss equal to the recall of normal children in the intentional condition. Four presentations of pairs in contrast to one presentation during the orientation task improved the learning of both groups. The recall of retarded Ss in contrast to normal Ss, however, was greater with four presentations under imagery instructions than under intentional control instructions. The results were discussed in terms of imagery processes and their educational implications.     

Visual imagery differences and eye movements in the recall of pictures

Groups of vivid and poor visualizers were given a picture memory task. and horizontal and vertical components of the electro-oculogram were recorded. This allowed a detailed investigation of each S’s eye movements in the perception. imagery, and recall phases of the task. The vivid visualizers gave a higher accuracy of recall Eye movement rate was lower in visual imagery than it was in perception, especially in the goup of vivid visualizers. There was some evidence of scanning activity prior to recall, but only if positional cues were provided or if recall was incorrect. No scanning occurred prior to accurate recall unprompted by a positional cue. These results provide no support to the theories of image construction proposed by Hebb (1949, 1968) and Neisser (1967). As suggested by Singer (1966), an absence of eye movement may be a necessary condition for vivid visual imagery.     

The role of imagery in the evaluation of sentences

Reaction time was the dependent variable in this sentence verification experiment. Simple sentences, which were either true or false, were constructed such that in some cases it was easy to form an image of the sentence, and in other cases forming an image was difficult. Ss' ratings were employed to select low- and high-imagery sentences. It was found that high-imagery sentences could be verified more rapidly than low-imagery sentences. Instructions which did not mention imagery were given to some Ss while others were specifically asked to employ imagery, but the reaction times of these two groups of Ss did not differ. It was concluded that imagery facilitates the process of sentence verification and that models of this process which restrict themselves to purely semantic operations are incomplete.     

任务信息通达对视觉表象眼动的影响

通过两个实验探讨了视觉表象任务信息的通达对表象加工眼动的影响。结果表明, 在低通达条件下, 表象任务的眼动复制了知觉任务的眼动; 随着表象任务信息通达水平的提高, 眼动的注视点平均持续时间、平均眼跳距离和平均眼跳时间会发生规律性变化; 眼动控制与任务信息通达水平对表象眼动的影响存在不同的机制。实验结果佐证了眼动在视觉表象中起机能性作用的观点。     

Personality differences in mental imagery and the effects on verbal memory

This study examined the effects of extraversion and neuroticism on participants’ reported vividness of visual imagery and on their memory performance for concrete and abstract nouns. Groups of extraverts (n = 15) and introverts (n = 15) were selected from a larger original sample and asked to remember a series of concrete and abstract nouns, including a set of lexically ambiguous concrete homonyms (e.g., earth = 1. planet, 2. soil). Extraverts reported more vivid imagery than introverts but this did not translate into better recall for extraverts, even for concrete stimuli. Recall was best for unambiguous concrete nouns, followed by concrete homonyms, then abstract nouns. While initial analyses suggested that there was an interaction between extraversion and the type of word presented, later analyses revealed that neuroticism was the main driver in differences in recall between different word types. While differences in recall were best explained by context availability theory (Schwanenflugel, 1991) rather than dual coding theory (Paivio, 1991), questions remain about the power of either theory to explain the role of individual differences in personality on recall, particularly given that imagery vividness effects were related to extraversion while differences in recall were related to neuroticism. The implications of these findings for future research and theoretical development are discussed.     

Eye scanpaths during visual imagery reenact those of perception of the same visual scene

Eye movements during mental imagery are not epiphenomenal but assist the process of image generation. Commands to the eyes for each fixation are stored along with the visual representation and are used as spatial index in a motor‐based coordinate system for the proper arrangement of parts of an image. In two experiments, subjects viewed an irregular checkerboard or color pictures of fish and were subsequently asked to form mental images of these stimuli while keeping their eyes open. During the perceptual phase, a group of subjects was requested to maintain fixation onto the screen's center, whereas another group was free to inspect the stimuli. During the imagery phase, all of these subjects were free to move their eyes. A third group of subjects (in Experiment 2) was free to explore the pattern but was requested to maintain central fixation during imagery. For subjects free to explore the pattern, the percentage of time spent fixating a specific location during perception was highly correlated with the time spent on the same (empty) locations during imagery. The order of scanning of these locations during imagery was correlated to the original order during perception. The strength of relatedness of these scanpaths and the vividness of each image predicted performance accuracy. Subjects who fixed their gaze centrally during perception did the same spontaneously during imagery. Subjects free to explore during perception, but maintaining central fixation during imagery, showed decreased ability to recall the pattern. We conclude that the eye scanpaths during visual imagery reenact those of perception of the same visual scene and that they play a functional role.     

The Effect of Exhaust Gas on the Performance in Certain Psychological Tests

The effects of imagery on immediate and long term recall and organization (i.e., clustering) were studied with regard to high and low imagery concrete stimulus nouns from the same generic categories, imagery and no imagery instructions, number of recall trials, and two presentation rates. Three major aspects were involved: (a) establishment of imagery norms for 80 categorically related nouns, (b) behavioral analysis of these norms, and (c) a verbal free recall experiment conducted with 960 sixth and eighth grade boys and girls to compare the verbal and imaginal symbolic processes. Recall and organization were found to be facilitated by imagery nouns or instructions. Eighth graders not only recalled and organized better than sixth graders, but also used imagery more effectively. Four written trials were better than one, and a five second presentation rate was better than 2.5 seconds. These trends held in immediate and long term recall. Results were discussed in terms of the code availability hypothesis of Paivio's two-process theory. It was concluded that imagery is an important factor in free recall and organization and functions analogously to verbal processes.     

Quantitative and qualitative aspects of memory for picture stimuli

Children aged approximately 8.5–9.5 years were shown either names (NP), or pictures (PP), of objects, for each of which they located the corresponding likenesses among an array of alternatives. Written recall and identification accuracy were assessed at 5 hr and 3 days after presentation. As predicted, NP produced significantly superior recall to PP. The rate of identification for recalled items among Ss in PP was significantly higher than that for NP. This result was interpreted as supporting the view that the superiority of NP in recall derives from the fact that Ss may rely upon retrieval from either name or image of each item whereas those in PP must depend upon image alone. This interpretation was extended to take two unexpected findings into account: (i) the superior overall identification accuracy engendered by PP, particularly at the longer time interval; (ii) the relatively weak relationship between identification accuracy and recall scores among matching Ss.     

‘Random’ saccadic eye movements during verbal-linguistic and visual-imaginal tasks

Previous research has suggested that questions eliciting visual imagery are associated with lower rates of saccadic eye movements as compared to questions eliciting verbal processes. Two experiments reported here examined the roles of external visual stimulation and speech output in this effect. In both experiments, questions designed to elicit verbal-linguistic or visual-imaginal processing, and which required either syntactically complex or simple responses, were administered while eye movements were recorded by electrooculography. In experiment 1, 42 subjects responded while viewing either the interviewer's face or a gray oval on a video monitor. Imaginal questions elicited a lower rate of eye movements than did verbal questions regardless of the display on the monitor. In experiment 2, 17 subjects responded in conditions of light and darkness. Imaginal questions elicited lower rates of eye movements in both light and dark. Neither cognitive mode nor speech output requirements interacted with stimulus conditions in either experiment. The failure of visual conditions to influence the verbal-imaginal difference in eye movement rate is viewed as inconsistent with a visual interference interpretation of the relationship of eye movements to cognitive activity. Alternate interpretations are discussed.     

The effects of imagery instructions on total congenital blind recall

Abstract

Research on the performance of total congenital blind subjects in imagery tasks is of particular interest because it helps to evaluate the consequences of their lack of visual experience. The present paper examines some points which remained unclear in the preceding research on the effects of imagery instructions on the recall of blind subjects. In Experiment 1 it is shown that, in a free recall task of unrelated nouns, the blind may take advantage of imagery instructions, independently of the particular requirement to form either common or bizarre images. In Experiment 2 the multiple image processing deficit of the blind found by De Beni and Cornoldi (1988) was again observed, but the effect was not found when the same quantity of material had to be processed verbally. Results are interpreted as showing that, although the blind may follow imagery instructions, their visual handicap creates specific difficulties in creating interactive images involving several items at the same time.     

图形视觉与心理表象眼动模式的比较研究

本研究通过比较图形视觉和心理表象以及不同认知框架下表象加工的眼动参数,揭示图形视觉加工和心理表象加工的特点.结果表明,从视知觉到视觉心理表象,眼动被币新编码,眼动模式更加简洁,视觉心理表象具有一定的概括性;认知框架影响视觉心理表象加工的眼动模式.     

Imagery limitations in totally congenitally blind subjects

Research on totally blind subjects performing tasks that involve visual imagery has often shown that they do not behave differently from matched sighted subjects, even when their blindness is congenital. If visual imagery is based on visual perception, such tasks may not required visual imagery. In the present article visual images are considered as representations maintaining some properties of visible objects and constructed on the basis of information from various sources. Owing to the absence of visual experience, the limitations of such representations are explored in a series of experiments requiring memorization of single nouns, pairs of nouns, or triplets of nouns associated with a cue noun. Recall by blind subjects was impaired when multiple interactive images (with noun pairs and triplets) are formed. The poorer recall of blind subjects reflected also loss of order information. Recall was better for both groups with locative noun cues and high-imagery targets.     

视觉表象眼动的变化：知识还是技能表征的差异？

以表象看到一个运动员完成三级跳远项目为实验任务,对表象任务的信息通达水平、眼动注视点的活动位置和被试对三级跳远项目的知识水平和技能水平进行系统的操纵,通过2个实验探讨了视觉表象眼动的变化是基于知识学习表征差异还是技能训练表征差异的问题。实验1以没有三级跳远运动专业技能知识且对该运动的认知水平也较低的大学生为被试,结果表明,在完成高信息通达水平的表象任务时,注视点需要较短的持续时间,但眼跳距离会增大,眼跳频率会变低;实验2对表象任务的知识学习表征水平和技能训练表征水平进行操纵,分别以对实验任务进行过知识学习和专业技能训练的人为被试,结果表明,随着被试知识习得水平和技能水平表征能力的提高,不同表象任务信息通达水平间的眼动差异将消失,但知识学习和技能表征的差异在平均眼跳时间上有差异,技能训练型的被试其平均眼跳时间要短于知识学习型被试,达到临界水平显著,注视点平均持续时间和平均眼跳距离等均没有差异。     

The relation between visual imagery mediators and recall

Three hypotheses are discussed as explanations for the result that pairs of concrete nouns are more easily remembered than are pairs of abstract nouns: the imagery hypothesis, the familiarity hypothesis, and the concreteness hypothesis. Two experiments are reported in which the degree of visual imagery associated with the components of paired associate items was not indicative of the degree of visual imagery experienced during their learning or with the accuracy with which they were recalled. It was found that pairs of related abstract nouns were rated higher in imagery and familiarity than were pairs of unrelated concrete nouns, but recall of the higher imagery pairs was poorer. The concreteness hypothesis is discussed as the best explanation for the results. The concreteness hypothesis proposes that people learn to associate the labels of concrete objects by using their real-world knowledge of the potential relations between categories of objects. Dual coding theory and schema theory are also discussed as explanations for mediation learning, and the issue of visual imagery as an epiphenomenon is addressed.     

Eye movements disrupt spatial but not visual mental imagery

It has long been known that eye movements are functionally involved in the generation and maintenance of mental images. Indeed, a number of studies demonstrated that voluntary eye movements interfere with mental imagery tasks (e.g., Laeng and Teodorescu in Cogn Sci 26:207–231, 2002). However, mental imagery is conceived as a multifarious cognitive function with at least two components, a spatial component and a visual component. The present study investigated the question of whether eye movements disrupt mental imagery in general or only its spatial component. We present data on healthy young adults, who performed visual and spatial imagery tasks concurrently with a smooth pursuit. In line with previous literature, results revealed that eye movements had a strong disruptive effect on spatial imagery. Moreover, we crucially demonstrated that eye movements had no disruptive effect when participants visualized the depictive aspects of an object. Therefore, we suggest that eye movements serve to a greater extent the spatial than the visual component of mental imagery.     

Selective interference during the retrieval of visual images

Twenty-six subjects memorized lists of (low I and high I) noun pairs under imagery or verbal mediation instructions. At recall the subjects were presented a digit (“1” or “2”) either auditorily or visually as an interfering stimulus.

Visual interference was found to selectively affect the retrieval of high I response terms. Also, the retrieval of nouns studied by imagery mediation was found to be selectively disrupted by visual interference.

These results suggest that the qualities of a visual image are retained all the way from image acquisition to retrieval, and that the visual components of images generated at the acquisition stage are probably not lost by subsequent coding processes.     

Relation between verbal recall and visual recognition of the same stimuli in young children

Five-year-old children (N = 112) were shown drawings of common objects three times either as a naming-and-learning task or as a preference task (incidental learning). A verbal recall test followed by a class- and item-recognition test, scaled to reflect the accuracy of item recognition, were given either 2 min or two weeks after presentation. Intentional learning with naming led to better immediate recall than incidental learning, but the recognition and delayed recall scores were equal for the two learning conditions. The probability of verbal recall of object names was in each case uncorrelated with the accuracy of visual recognition of the same objects by the same Ss. The results are closely similar to those obtained with adult Ss by Bahrick and Boucher (1968).