Recognition of Sentences by Native and Nonnative Speakers of English: Probing the Role of Imagery

Abstract

M The study of imagery and underlying comprehension and recognition of verbal information forms foundation stones of cognitive psychology. Research has identified positive effects of mental imagery on recall (Begg & Paivio, 1969; Paivio, 1971, 1977, 1978; Paivio & Begg, 1971). Paivio and Begg (1971), for example, presented abstract and concrete sentences to subjects and found that on a recognition memory task, changes in meaning of concrete, highimagery sentences (e.g., The vicious hound chased a wild animal) were detected more readily than changes in meaning of abstract, lowimagery sentences (e.g., The absolute faith aroused an enduring interest). Previously, Begg and Paivio (1969) had found that subjects noticed a semantic change more easily than a change in sentence structure for concrete, high-imagery sentences than they did for abstract, lowimagery sentences. Evidence indicating that visual imagery is an epiphenomenon which accompanies learning but which has nothing functional to do with it has also been presented (Day & Bellezza, 1983; Pylyshun, 1973, 1981); however, study of mental imagery as a mediator of cognitive tasks continues to be a major concern of cognitive psychologists. Although investigation of role imagery plays in processing of information by nonnative speakers has been virtually ignored in memory research, as Rose (1975) puts it, the bilingual is subject par excellence for investigations of cognitive processes (p. 150). The study reported here yields information concerning role of mental imagery