Vividness of Visual Imagery and Incidental Recall of Verbal Cues, When Phenomenological Availability Reflects Long-Term Memory Accessibility

Abstract

The relationship between vivid visual mental images and unexpected recall (incidental recall) was replicated, refined, and extended. In Experiment 1, participants were asked to generate mental images from imagery-evoking verbal cues (controlled on several verbal properties) and then, on a trial-by-trial basis, rate the vividness of their images; 30 min later, participants were surprised with a task requiring free recall of the cues. Higher vividness ratings predicted better incidental recall of the cues than individual differences (whose effect was modest). Distributional analysis of image latencies through ex-Gaussian modeling showed an inverse relation between vividness and latency. However, recall was unrelated to image latency. The follow-up Experiment 2 showed that the processes underlying trial-by-trial vividness ratings are unrelated to the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (VVIQ), as further supported by a meta-analysis of a randomly selected sample of relevant literature. The present findings suggest that vividness may act as an index of availability of long-term sensory traces, playing a non-epiphenomenal role in facilitating the access of those memories.

Are synesthetes exceptional beyond their synesthetic associations? A systematic comparison of creativity, personality, cognition, and mental imagery in synesthetes and controls

“…posited as a potential confound, was rather weakly associated with our creativity measures; however, usage of mental imagery showed a sizeable association with absorption and openness, suggesting that it has some connection with the pattern of differences expressed in synesthesia. Synesthetes reported greater use of mental imagery compared with controls, which could reflect their preference for using vivid visual imagery (Meier & Rothen, 2013). Group differences in intensity of mental imagery were, however, too small to be convincing.…”

Control of working memory in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta).

“…To examine this possibility and to better isolate the effect of the cues on memory, median experienced delay intervals, calculated as the interval between the offset of the sample and the registration of a test response (FR2), were also compared between regular R-cued trials and F-cued probe trials as well as between regular F-cued trials and R-cued probe trials by paired t -tests. For each t value larger than 1, we reported the standardized Cohen’s d z for within-subjects designs as suggested by Lakens (2013) as well as the 95% confidence interval for this measure of effect size calculated using a bootstrapping procedure in R (Cumming, 2012). …”

Unhealthy weight control strategies: An outcome of body image and eating tensions in women of Mexican origin living in rural farming communities

“…However, these results have generally received little attention and are generally overlooked as potentially serious health risk behaviors. Evidence suggests that unhealthy weight control behaviors become persistent behavioral patterns that endure over time and contribute to weight gain (Low, et al, 2013) and compromised physical and emotional health. When considered together, evidence is mounting to suggest that body weight concerns, conflicts related to eating and food manifest in a diverse array of UHWCB.…”