The role of imagery in the mental representation of negative sentences

Journal/Book: Amer J Psychol. 1996; 109: 1325 S Oak St, Champaign, IL 61820. Univ Illinois Press. 551-565.

Abstract: Two experiments explored the role of imagery in the mental representation of negative sentences. In Experiment 1, subjects were disproportionately likely to misremember negative location sentences (e.g., x is absent from y) as positive location sentences (e.g., x is present at y) when the concepts in the sentences were highly imageable. This was taken as evidence that imagery is employed in the mental representation of such sentences. In Experiment 2, positive location sentences were better remembered when paired with pictures of their subjects, and negative location sentences were better remembered when paired with pictures of their locative objects. This was taken as evidence that imagery is used to encode the polarities of location sentences as well as the concepts of which they are composed.

Note: Article Dopkins S, George Washington Univ, Dept Psychol, 2125 G St NW, Washington,DC 20052 USA

Keyword(s): CONCEALED OBJECTS; MEMORY; RECALL; COMPREHENSION; ORGANIZATION; INFORMATION; CONCRETE

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