RECOGNITION AND RECALL: LATENCY AND RECURRENCE OF IMAGES

Explanations of improvements in memory through the formation of mental images require that the same image recurs when the stimulus is re-presented on the test trial. The experiment obtained information on the latency and recurrence of images to explain anomalies in recognition memory following imaging. In Part A, words of high or low I were presented one by one and subjects stopped a timer to indicate when they had formed an image to each word. The words were then presented for a second time, together with an equal number of new words. As before, subjects stopped a timer when they had formed an image. They reported whether the word had been presented before, and, if so, whether the image was the same as on the first presentation. No change was found in the latency of image formation to high I words but the latency to low I words decreased on the second presentation and the same image recurred less frequently to low I words. In Part B, pairs of words were presented. Pairs and single words from pairs were presented again, along with equal numbers of new pairs and new single words. On 94 per cent of occasions on which pairs were presented for a second time the recurrence of the same image was reported. When single words were presented the same image recurred on only 22 per cent of occasions.