A comparison of verbal and non-verbal reports of fragmenting visual Images

Abstract

Sixty-eight Ss voluntarily restrained head, eye and blinking movements while viewing a luminous "HB" figure in a darkened room. All Ss were told that voluntary fixation would cause parts of the pattern to disappear; they were to report the parts that remained intact. Half of the Ss reported their disappearances verbally. The other half traced their disappearances on an outline "HB" figure. Results showed that the verbal method significantly favored the reporting of elements from the set H, h, B, b, 1, 11, +. These data suggest that response bias rather than perceptual organization may be responsible for the preponderance of meaningful disappearances noted in previous research.

Internal and External Imagery Perspective Measurement and Use in Imagining Open and Closed Sports Skills: An Exploratory Study

“…Concurrent verbalisation is a process in which an individual verbalises cognitive processes while performing a task. This "thinking aloud" (Ericsson & Simon, 1980) has been used successfully in the study of mental processes, such as problem-solving (e.g., Newel1 & Simon, 1972), visual and verbal coding (e.g., Schuck & Leahy, 1966), cueprobability learning (e.g., Brehmer, 1974), concept learning (e.g., Bower & King, 1967), mental multiplication (e.g., Dansereau & Gregg, 1966), performance on intelligence tests (e.g., Merz, 1969), concentration during running (Schemer, 1986), and expertise in chess (DeGroot, 1965). Studies on imaginal activity in nonsporting situations have used concurrent verbalisation (e.g., Bertini, Lewis, & Witkin, 1969;Klinger, 1971;Kazdin, 1975Kazdin, , 1976Kazdin, , 1979Klos & Singer, 1981;Petre & Blackwell, 1999).…”

Effect of amount of perceptual learning upon disappearances observed under reduced stimulation conditions

“…If the S simply repeats the digits in each visual display, not only are the visual stimuli 3 and 2 (as well as 8 and 5) appearing in close temporal and spatial connection but also these verbal responses are concurrmg with equal frequency. By having the S report the total number of digits, the perceptual learning experience is restricted to S-S associations rather than to response mediated associations that have been previously demonstrated (Donderi & Kane, 1965;McKinney, 1966;Schuck & Leahy, 1966).…”

“…The role response training plays in influencing perceptual disappearances has been questioned. Schuck and Leahy (1966) compared verbal and nonverbal reports of fragmentation and concluded that response training and bias did not affect the perception of stimuli but simply altered the reporting of their fragmentation.…”