PSY 368 Human Memory Imagery & Mnemonics

Brief outline for week Imagery Cases of superior memory Effects Theories Cases of superior memory Ways to improve you memory

Demo: Remembering a shopping list Milk Cereal Hot dogs Pickles Mustard Orange juice Sponges Toilet paper Light bulbs Cookies Route Classroom Out by elevators In elevator DeGarmo lobby Plaza Quad Bridge over College Ave Area outside of Milner Bone Student Center Student Bookstore Bizarre image Dr. Cutting milking a cow in the classroom Cptn’ Crunch sword fighting with Tony the Tiger Three people roasting hotdogs over camp fire Flood of pickle juice and floating pickles, have to step on pickles to get out Etc. The more bizarre and vivid the image, the better. Add sounds and smells to your images

Imagery A lot of the mnemonic techniques have an imagery aspect to them, so we will start with a discussion of imagery and memory

Historical Overview Three Ages of Mental Imagery: The Philosophic Period Mental images were taken to be the main factor in the makeup of the mind. Images were also sometimes believed to be the elements of thought. The Measurement Period Galton (1880), gave a questionnaire to 100 people asking them to remember their breakfast table and answer some questions about the images that they had. Created a measure of imagery that was related to sex, age, and other differences specific to individuals, but learned little else. With behaviorism, this died out.

Historical Overview Three Ages of Mental Imagery: The Cognitive and Neurocognitive Period Imagery studies and research was reborn in the late 1960s on two ideals. The first was proposed by Sheehan and Neisser (1969). It dealt with the quantitative assessment of imagery. (see also Neisser & Kerr, 1973). The second advance for imagery involved the incorporation of the concept into a cognitive model where the internal representation of information was a central element.

Imagery What is a mental image? Is the mental representation of things that are not currently being sensed by the sense organs How is it like reality, how is it different? Hard to study, not directly observable and fade away quickly. Does an image use the same neural hardware as experience? Spatial ability is independent of verbal ability. We can test it using methods similar to operation span or digit span. Example of test: Cube folding: Will the arrows touch if you fold these into cubes?

Imagery and Memory Effects Mental rotation tasks Picture superiority effect Image scanning effect Bizarreness effect Concreteness Effect

Imagery and Memory Effects Mental rotation tasks Mental rotation tasks suggest that you use images in working memory in an analog way. Shepard and Metzler (1972): Rotate images, look at response time. A: “Same” rotated in picture plane. B: “Same” rotated in depth. C: Different.

Imagery and Memory Effects Picture superiority effect Shepard (1967): Present 612 pictures or words with a recognition test. After 2 hours approximately 100% accuracy for pictures, 88% for words. After a week about 88% for both. Standing (1977): Learn 1,000 words, 1,000 simple pictures, or 1,000 bizarre pictures. After 2 days recognition memory was 61.5% for words, 77% for pictures, and 88% for bizarre pictures. Summation: Memory for pictures is better than memory for words, especially early on.

Imagery and Memory Effects Image scanning effect Paivio (1978) For example, imagine these times on an analog clock face. Which of each pair has a bigger angle between the hands? 4:10 and 9:23 3:20 and 7:25 2:45 and 1:05 3:15 and 5:30 Results Reaction times related to angular distance, smaller angle = larger RT P’s who were high imagers were overall faster than low imagers

Imagery and Memory Effects Image scanning effect Scanning tasks show that the farther apart two things are on an image, the longer it takes to mentally scan from one to the other (e.g., Kosslyn, Ball, & Reiser, 1978). Memorize this map… There’s a hut, a tree, a rock, a lake, a well, sand, and grass. Hear the name of an object, then another. Imagine a black dot zipping from one to the other on the shortest path. Push a button when it gets there.

Imagery and Memory Effects Image scanning effect Scanning tasks show that the farther apart two things are on an image, the longer it takes to mentally scan from one to the other (e.g., Kosslyn, Ball, & Reiser, 1978). Time to scan between all pairs of locations on imaged map

Imagery and Memory Effects Bizarreness effect Better memory for bizarre images McDaniel & Einstein (1986) Presented participants with sentences w/ underlined word triplets, within either bizarre or common sentence contexts (10 sets) Bizarre: The dog rode the bicycle down the street Common: The dog chased the bicycle down the street. Instructions: Form an mental image that included the underlined words, and rate the vividness of the image Following a 30 sec distractor task they were asked to recall the underlined words

Imagery and Memory Effects Bizarreness effect Better memory for bizarre images McDaniel & Einstein (1986) Presented participants with sentences w/ underlined word triplets, within either bizarre or common sentence contexts (10 sets) Bizarre: The dog rode the bicycle down the street Common: The dog chased the bicycle down the street. Results, bizarre images were better recalled than common images But only when in the context of common images May not related to imaging ability, but rather distinctiveness Von Restorff effect (isolation effects): The distinctive (or isolated) item “stands out” and is remembered better than other list items

Imagery and Memory Effects Concreteness Effect Read list of words Typically better recall for the concrete items Dollar Cabin Storm Arrow River Book Peach Justice Franchise Session Incident Hope Cost Mood dollar, justice, cabin, franchise, storm, session, arrow, incident, river, hope, book, cost, peach, mood

Imagery Images could be: Analog representations: Pictures in the head: Images are what they feel like, a picture in the head whose properties are like the properties of the real thing Perceptual processing: Images use the same perceptual hardware you use to see Propositions: It’s essentially a verbal/symbolic thing. The feeling that you have an image is epiphenomenal, there isn’t really an image

Three Theories of Imagery Functional-Equivalency hypothesis Analog representations. Something like pictures, but not exactly the same Conceptual-Propositional Hypothesis No images, propositional representation Paivio’s Dual-Coding Hypothesis Perhaps both image and verbal (propositional?) representations for some things

Three Theories of Imagery 1. Functional-Equivalency hypothesis Shepard and Kosslyn (e.g., Cooper & Shepard, 1978; Kosslyn & Pomerantz, 1977) States that imagery and perception are extremely similar. Shepard and Kosslyn introduced mental rotation of visual stimuli in memory. Relationship between time required for a specific mental rotation and the actual degrees of rotation Visual images reflect internal representations that operate in a way that is analogous to the functioning of the perception of physical objects

Three Theories of Imagery Images use the same perceptual hardware you use to see. Estes, Verges, & Barsalou (2008) Reading words should lead to mental simulations of the words, using perceptual hardware. Part of this simulation is location. Trial: Prime: Cowboy Word: hat (upper location) or boot (lower location) Target: Letter (X or O at top or bottom of the screen) If you simulate the location, then hat should interfere with letters at the top (you’re using that perceptual hardware). Boot would be opposite.

Three Theories of Imagery Images use the same perceptual hardware you use to see. Estes, Verges, & Barsalou (2008) Reading words should lead to mental simulations of the words, using perceptual hardware. Results Letters in objects’ typical locations took longer to identify.

Three Theories of Imagery Images use the same perceptual hardware you use to see. Zwaan & Yaxley (2003) Spatial iconicity effects also suggest that location is part of the representation of words and that location simulation is part of comprehension. Present a pair of words, are they related? Attic Basement Or

Three Theories of Imagery Images use the same perceptual hardware you use to see. Zwaan & Yaxley (2003) When vertical arrangements were correct, participants were faster than when they were incorrect. Again, location seems to be part of the understanding of a word.

Imagery But, pictures support processing that images don’t. For example, it’s harder to decompose an image than it is to decompose a picture. (based on Reed, 1974) Get a clear mental image of the picture below:

Imagery But, pictures support processing that images don’t. For example, it’s harder to decompose an image than it is to decompose a picture. (based on Reed, 1974) Are the following shapes in the picture you just saw?

Imagery But, pictures support processing that images don’t. For example, it’s harder to decompose an image than it is to decompose a picture. (based on Reed, 1974) Are the following shapes in the picture you just saw?

Imagery But, pictures support processing that images don’t. For example, you can reverse pictures, but most people report that reversing images is very hard (relative to with a picture). Chambers & Reisberg (1985) Look at ambiguous figure, provide interpretation Imagine the figure, provide a second interpretation, very hard to do Draw image from memory, then give second interpretation, could do it

Three Theories of Imagery Conceptual-Propositional Hypothesis Anderson and Bower (e.g., Anderson, 1978, Bower, 1972, Pylyshyn, 1973) Memory is not like a photograph We store propositional interpretations of events, whether they be verbal or visual, rather than the imagery components. Anderson and Bower explain that concrete concepts are coded by a rich set of predicates that bind concepts together. ..."the only difference between the internal representation for a linguistic input and a memory image is detail of information”

“The goal keeper missed the ball” Theories of Imagery Images could be: Propositions: Essentially a verbal/symbolic thing. The feeling that you have an image is epiphenomenal, there isn’t really an image. You saw You heard “The goal keeper missed the ball” Same underlying propositional representations: missed(goalkeeper, ball) Image may provide even richer information: wept(goalkeeper) cursed(goalkeeper)

Three Theories of Imagery Comparing Analog and Propositional codes Analog Code Picture-like code Images like perceptions, retain some sensory qualities Relations represented implicitly Simultaneous Different representations for each sense Propositional Code Word-like code Images are descriptions of visual scenes Relations represented explicitly Sequential Same representations for each sense Anderson (1978): concluded that “it may not be possible to decide between imaginal and propositional representations strictly on the basis of behavioral data.”

Three Theories of Imagery 3. Paivio’s Dual-Coding Hypothesis Proposed that words and images are processed separately (based on patients with temporal lobe damage who could not process images). The basic tenant of this theory is that information is mentally represented either in a verbal system or a nonverbal (analog) system (or both). Each system contains different kinds of information. Each concept is connected to other related concepts in the same system and the other system. Activating any one concept also leads to activation of closely related concepts.

Three Theories of Imagery 3. Paivio’s Dual-Coding Hypothesis Explains many of the imagery effects Concreteness effect Verbal and visual (image) codes for concrete items Picture superiority effect Pictures automatically coded two ways, as and image and as a verbal description Imagery instructions Schnorr & Atkinson, (1969) Studied pairs of associates using two instructions Imagery instructions – 80% Rote rehearsal - 40%

Three Theories of Imagery 3. Paivio’s Dual-Coding Hypothesis Explains many of the imagery effects Symbolic distance effect – it is easier to make judgments about items that are farther apart on a dimension than it is to make judgments about items that are close on a dimension. true or false: The fly is bigger than the flea. The horse is bigger than the mouse. The rabbit is bigger than the dog. The mouse is bigger than the fly. The dog is bigger than the horse. slow fast slow fast slow

Three Theories of Imagery 3. Paivio’s Dual-Coding Hypothesis Explains many of the imagery effects Symbolic distance effect – it is easier to make judgments about items that are farther apart on a dimension than it is to make judgments about items that are close on a dimension. Picture symbolic distance effect tasks are easier than verbal symbolic distance effect tasks (pictures access the system directly, verbal has to be recoded).

Three Theories of Imagery 3. Paivio’s Dual-Coding Hypothesis Can using dual coding ever interfere with/disrupt memory? Segal (1971): imagery tasks can interfere with visual perception Brooks (1967): perceptual tasks can interfere with imagery Try imaging President Lincoln’s face and read the text given below. Imagery involves one or more of your five senses, hearing, taste, touch, smell, sight. An author uses a word or phrase to stimulate your memory of those senses. These memories can be positive or negative which will contribute to the mood of your poem…

Three Theories of Imagery 3. Paivio’s Dual-Coding Hypothesis Can using dual coding ever interfere with/disrupt memory? Schooler & Engstrom-Schooler (1990) P's are shown a videotaped robbery. (This creates a visual memory.) P's then either: 1) Are asked to imagine the robber. 2) Are asked to describe the robber. 3) Are asked to do a series of math problems. (control) P's complete a recognition memory test picking the robber out of a lineup of eight persons.

Three Theories of Imagery 3. Paivio’s Dual-Coding Hypothesis Can using dual coding ever interfere with/disrupt memory? Schooler & Engstrom-Schooler (1990) Results: Creating two codes can disrupt memory for information that is only represented in one code.

Demo: Remembering a shopping list Okay, recall the shopping list. Run through the route from here to the bookstore in Bone. List Milk Toilet paper Cereal Light bulbs Hot dogs Cookies Pickles Mustard Orange juice Sponges

Special Abilities Eidetic imagery The Mind of a Mnemonist, Luria (1968, 1987) Flashbulb memories

Special Abilities Eidetic imagery = Photographic memory Criteria strict for classification - image = photograph Eidetic images have more detail than normal and last longer than iconic memory. Frequency of occurrence Mostly in preadolescent children Rare in adults - not well-studied Eidetic images have more detail than normal and last longer than iconic memory. 8% of preadolescent kids. Criteria strict for classification - image = photograph

Special Abilities The Mind of a Mnemonist, Luria (1968, 1987) ‘S’ (Solomon Shereshevsky, Russian journalist 7 mnemonist) Average IQ Could recall speeches verbatim Memorize complex mathematical equations and matrices Memorize text and poems, even in foreign language Diagnosed as having severe Synesthesia Musical tones were colors, touch were tastes Thinking about numbers: “take the number 1. This is a proud, well-built man; 2 is a high-spirited woman; 3 a gloomy person; 6 a man with a swollen foot; 7 a man with a moustache; 8 a very stout woman—a sack within a sack. As for the number 87, what I see is a fat woman and a man twirling his moustache”

Special Abilities The Mind of a Mnemonist, Luria (1968, 1987) Synesthesia is a condition where sensations usually experienced in a single modality are experienced in two modalities. This condition give psychologists some very interesting data and research. Some examples of synesthesia are receiving an auditory signal or sensation in a visual modality, where it obviously shouldn’t be. Synesthesia is rule governed, not random. For example, there is a positive relationship between increasing the pitch of a sound and increased brightness.

Special Abilities Flashbulb memories Very vivid memories Personally relevant – emotion Difficult to study Neisser and Harsch (1992) study Where you were on Sept. 11 Challenger explosion in 1986 - asked people day later about where they were, etc. After 3 years they were inaccurate at remembering these things, but very confident they were accurate No evidence they are different from normal memories. Lots of detail Where you were on Sept. 11 Challenger explosion in 1986 - asked people day later about where they were, etc. - after 3 years they were inaccurate at remembering these things, but very confident they were accurate - no evidence they are different from normal memories.