Imagery Memory Research Articles

Comparison of different strategies to decrease negative affect and increase positive affect in women with borderline personality disorder

BackgroundIn this study we compared the effect of different emotion regulation strategies on positive and negative emotions in patients with borderline personality disorder. MethodsEmotion regulation strategies were a distracting task, individual positive memory imagery, individual soothing imagery, and a neutral comparison condition. During two separate sessions, 17 participants watched either neutral or negative movie segments before using these strategies. ResultsAll three strategies influenced emotions into a favorable direction as compared to the neutral comparison condition. The positive memory image increased positive emotions significantly stronger than counting colors and distracting. DiscussionDifferent strategies seem to have similar effects in decreasing negative emotions. Positive emotions may be affected in particular by positive and soothing imagery techniques.

Visual Cognition in Hemiparkinsonism: Visuoconstruction, Visual Memory, Mental Rotation, and Visual Imagery

Parkinsons disease is characterized by tremor, rigidity, and bradykinesia. The study of patients with predominant symp- toms on one side of the body (hemiparkinsonism) is clinically relevant for different disciplines. The predominantely affect- ed side of the dopamine system in patients with Parkinsons disease might have differential effects on certain functions. The functional architecture of the basal ganglia suggests their involvement in visuocognitive processes. Earlier studies have yielded mixed results. Only few studies examined differences in visuocognitive functions in hemiparkinsonism compared to a control group. The aim of our study was to examine such functions and their interrelations in hemiparkinsonism in comparison to a control group in detail. We compared 22 Par- kinson patients with predominantely right sided symptoms (Parkinson right), 22 Parkinson patients with predominantely left sided symptoms (Parkinson left) and 22 healthy controls on several visuocognitive measures. We found no significant differences between the three groups in visuoconstruction, visual memory, mental rotation, and movement imagery. Significant differences were found in a self-rating instrument of visual imagery. The control group generally has a clearer visual imagination than the Parkinson left group. On sub- scale level the control group has a clearer geometric-sche- matic imagery than the Parkinson right and the Parkinson left group. The control group further has a clearer phantasy imagery than the Parkinson left group. In the Parkinson right group there is a significant association of self-rated visual imagery and visual memory. In the Parkinson left group there are significant correlations between geometric-schematic im - agery on one side and visual memory and mental rotation on the other side. In the control group there are significant as - sociations between mental rotation and figural memory and between visuoconstruction and visual reproduction. These correlational patterns suggest that there are different under- lying mechanisms in the three groups that are relevant for performance in visuocognitive tasks. Our results suggest no differential role of the basal ganglia in objective neuropsy- chological measures of visual cognition. The self-rated visu- al imagery ability seems to be mainly mediated by the right basal ganglia because especially the Parkinson left group is impaired in this area. The definition of laterality of motor symptoms should be standardized.

Visual Mental Imagery Memory Model Based on Weighted Directed Graph

Simulation of imagery thinking has important significance for research and development of human intelligent systems. The breakthrough of computer simulation of imagery thinking is the simulation of mental imagery's memory mechanisms. In this study, a visual mental imagery memory model accord with working mechanism of declarative memory has been constructed. The new model has four layers. They are feature layer, hyper column layer, MTL (medial temporal lobe) free neurons layer and imagery concept layer. The design method and function of the model are described in the study. The experiment results demonstrate, the model can extract contour of target effectively and can realize various operation of mental imagery.

Call for Manuscripts: Spatial Abilities in the Middle Grades

What meaningful spatial-reasoning tasks do you incorporate into your mathematics program? How can teachers help students develop spatial abilities? Why is it important to do so? What are the subtle distinctions, if any, among such terms as the following: spatial sense, spatial visualization, spatial perception, spatial structuring, spatial memory, spatial reasoning, and visual imagery?

Neuroergonomics of Visual Cognition: Research and Applications

This panel examines recent developments in neuroergonomic research and application involving higher-order vision. Four important aspects of visual cognition are discussed, namely 3-D object motion, biological motion, visual memory, and visual imagery. Each of the panelists follows a neuroergonomic approach, first describing studies of these aspects of visual cognition using both behavioral and neuroimaging (fMRI, ERP, and MEG) measures. The implications of these results for human factors applications are then discussed. Particular domains of application that are examined include elder design, driving, virtual environments, and software and educational curriculum design.

Characterizing spatial and temporal features of autobiographical memory retrieval networks: a partial least squares approach

Conway (Conway, M.A., 1992. A structural model of autobiographical memory. In: Conway, M.A., Spinnler, H., Wagenaar, W.A. (Eds.), Theoretical Perspectives on Autobiological Memory. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, pp. 167-194) proposed that two types of autobiographical memories (AMs) exist within a hierarchical AM system: unique, specific events and repeated, general memories. There is little research on whether retrieval of these AMs relies on different neural substrates. To investigate this issue, we used a multivariate image analysis technique, spatiotemporal partial least squares (PLS), to identify distributed patterns of activity most related to AM tasks that we have found to be associated with a medial and left-lateralized network. Using PLS, specific and general memories were more strongly associated with different parts of this retrieval network. Specific AM retrieval was associated more with activation of regions involved in imagery in episodic memory, including the left precuneus, left superior parietal lobule and right cuneus, whereas general AM retrieval was associated with activation of the right inferior temporal gyrus, right medial frontal cortex, and left thalamus. These two patterns emerged at different lags after stimulus onset, with the general AM pattern peaking between 2 and 6 s, and the specific AM pattern between 6 and 8 s. These lag differences are consistent with Conway's theory which posits that general AMs are the preferred level of entry to the AM system. A seed PLS analysis revealed that the regions functionally connected to the hippocampus during retrieval did not differentiate specific from general AM retrieval, which confirms our earlier univariate analysis indicating that some aspects of the memory retrieval network are shared by these memories.

A longitudinal investigation of the reliability of memories for trauma and other emotional experiences

AbstractThis study examined the relative consistency and characteristics of memories for trauma and other non‐traumatic emotional experiences over time. A community sample of 52 participants who reported a recent traumatic event were asked to recall both the traumatic and a positive emotional experience in two interviews separated by approximately three months (M = 105.39 days). The recollections were elicited with either a free narrative, cognitive interview, guided imagery, or written narrative approach. Results indicated that traumatic experiences were recalled more reliably over time than other emotional experiences. Traumatic memory imagery tended to persist in memory (with no apparent impairment), whereas features of positive memories were subject to considerable distortion, regardless of interview style. The findings contribute to the understanding of the impact of trauma on memory with the passage of time. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

:Art, Memory and Family in Renaissance Florence

Introduction Part I. Memory and its Materials: 1. The historical material of memory Patrick Geary 2. Family memory: functions, evolution, recurrences Giovanni Ciappelli 3. Family, memory, and history Nicolai Rubinstein 4. Poetry as politics and memory in Renaissance Florence and Italy Lauro Martines Part II. The Imagery of Memory: 5. Art and the imagery of memory Patricia Lee Rubin 6. The memory of faces: representational choices in Florentine portraiture Alison Wright 7. Giovanni Benci's patronage of the nunnery, Le Murate Megan Holmes 8. Monument and memory in Renaissance Florence Andrew Butterfield Part III. Family Identity: 9. Artisan family strategies: proposals for research on the families of Florentine artists Margaret Haines 10. Florentine palaces and the memories of the past Brenda Preyer 11. Memory of place: Luogo and lineage in the fifteenth-century Florentine countryside Amanda Lillie 12. Family values: sculpture and the family in fifteenth-century Florence Geraldine Johnson Part IV. The Transmission of Memory: 13. Names, memory, public identity in late Medieval Florence Anthony Molho 14. The memory of exiled families: the case of the Strozzi Lorenzo Fabbri 15. Memoria and family in law Thomas Kuehn 16. Collective amnesia: family memory and the mendicants: a comment Samuel K. Cohn Jr.

Visual Imagery in Recognition and Source Memory for Audiotape and Text

80 participants heard an audiotape of a crime, read an account with both correct and new information, then took recognition and source memory tests. While listening and reading, participants attended carefully, and half also formed visual images of the events. Imagery instructions had no effects, but recognition memory was better for material from the text only than from the audiotape only, whereas source memory was better for audiotape than for text. These results replicate previous findings for film and audiotape.

Imagery-Based Learning: Improving Elementary Students' Reading Comprehension With Drama Techniques

The causal relationship between drama-based reading instruction and reading comprehension among 4th-grade students was examined. Cognitive theories related to the role of imagery in memory were used to develop a drama-based reading comprehension program. A randomized pretest-posttest control-group design was then employed to assess the impact of the drama-based instruction on students' test scores on the reading comprehension portion of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills. Results suggest a direct causal link between drama-based instruction and improved reading comprehension.

The role of executive function in imagery mnemonics: evidence from multiple sclerosis

The use of imagery in learning and memory involves metacognitive skills that seem to depend upon executive function as well as motivational mechanisms. This implies that the efficacy of imagery mnemonics should be impaired in neurological patients who show either executive dysfunction or affective disorders. This hypothesis was tested in patients with multiple sclerosis. Imagery instructions led to improved recall in three different tasks, although experimenter-generated imagery proved to be more effective than subject-generated imagery and there was little evidence that patients maintained the use of imagery mnemonics on follow-up testing. Three other tasks defined a unitary trait of executive processing efficiency, and this was significantly correlated with the benefit obtained from the use of the Method of Loci in a free-recall tasks, but not with the benefit gained from other imagery mnemonics. The patients scores, on a widely used depression inventory, were not significantly correlated with the benefit obtained from the use of imagery mnemonics. Nonetheless, it is concluded that executive processing capacity determines the benefit that is derived from the use of more complex forms of imagery mnemonic in verbal-learning tasks.

The Metamemory, Memory Strategy and Study Technique Inventory (MMSSTI): A Factor Analytic Study

The Metamemory, Memory Strategy and Study Technique Inventory (MMSSTI), a 93-item self-report questionnaire, was designed to assess metamemory, memory strategies, study techniques and the mental load of students at tertiary level. Exploratory factor analysis yielded 12 factors/subscales: three measure metamemory, five memory strategies, three study techniques and one mental load. The subscales have satisfactory to good internal consistencies. The metamemory subscales assess Monitoring and two kinds of regulatory processes, namely Time Allocation and Mental Representations of Information. Four memory strategy subscales measure encoding memory strategies, namely Rehearsal, Association/Organisation, Verbal Elaboration and Imagery, while one subscale assesses Retrieval Memory Strategies. The study techniques subscales measure Insight/Understanding, a Questioning Approach and Extracting Important Information. There is a subscale called Mental Load, which is a measurement of the interference of various factors in information processing and their constraints on the ability of the information processor to cope with the memory task demands.

Influences of relational and item-specific orienting tasks on the magnitude of concreteness effects

Abstract Three experiments explored concreteness effects in memory for words following imagery-related orienting tasks. Predictions from dual coding and relational-distinctive explanations of concreteness and imagery effects were contrasted. Of particular interest were differences in the magnitudes of concreteness effects in an item-specific imagery task (timed image generation) and a relational imagery task (rating of relative imageability). The effects of restricted-range (high and medium-imagery) versus full-range (high, medium and low-imagery) materials were also considered as a means to evaluate the effects of relative item distinctiveness on concreteness effects. The results demonstrated the importance of relational information in the production of concreteness effects and indicated that imagery alone is an insufficient explanation of concreteness effects. At the same time, they revealed the need for a more comprehensive theoretical account of the role of mental imagery in memory, as neither model u...

Concreteness effects in free recall: the roles of imaginal and relational processing.

Two experiments reevaluated the possible role of mental imagery in free recall of concrete and abstract words. In Experiment 1, the number and rate of list presentations were manipulated. Incidental recall following an imagery rating task yielded reliable concreteness effects after two presentations but not after a single presentation, regardless of presentation rate. In Experiment 2, we examined the effects of relational (categorization) and item-specific (imagery rating) processing tasks on memory for categorically related or unrelated concrete and abstract words. Concreteness effects were obtained when unrelated words were sorted into categories but not when they were rated on imagery. Related words failed to yield concreteness effects under any orienting condition. The results support the view that the presence or absence of concreteness effects in free recall depends on the relative salience of distinctive and relational information. This conclusion constrains theoretical explanations of the role of mental imagery in memory and cognition.

Fear imagery and the startle-probe reflex.

Blink reflexes to acoustic probes, heart rate, and subjective reports were studied during affective memory imagery. Thirty-six undergraduates memorized 6 pairs of neutral and fearful sentences. After learning each pair, they relaxed and listened to a series of uniform tones, one every 6 s. A change in tone pitch (higher or lower) cued recall of one of the two sentences. At the first cue tone, groups (n = 12) were under different instructions: (a) ignore the sentence and relax, (b) silently articulate the sentence, and (c) imagine the sentence content as a personal experience. At the second cue tone, all subjects performed the imagery task. Startle probes (50-ms, 95-dB white noise) were presented unpredictably during relaxation and recall trials. Probe blink reflexes were larger and cardiac rate faster at fear sentence recall than at neutral sentence recall or relaxation. For probe reflexes, this effect was greater for imagery than for nonsemantic recall tasks.

Construct validity of the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire.

Chara (1989) recently questioned the construct validity of the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (VVIQ) on empirical grounds. Unfortunately, Chara in that paper has erroneously construed construct validity as independent of criterion-related validity. This error is compounded by Chara and Verplanck's 1986 assumption that the VVIQ assesses purely memory imagery. Further problems arise from Chara's 1989 selective reporting of the relevant literature. Comprehensive review of the VVIQ literature in its totality is necessary before conclusions are possible concerning the questionnaire's construct validity.

An inquiry into the construct validity of the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire.

The construct validity of the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (VVIQ) was investigated using a series of visual memory tasks. Subjects were shown a picture after completing the questionnaire. Their ability to recall that picture was probed through a free-recall procedure, drawing, two spatial-recall tasks, and a multiple-choice questionnaire. Scores on the VVIQ were statistically unrelated to performance on any of the memory tasks demonstrating a lack of support for construct validity as a measure of visual memory imagery.

A reexamination of the role of imagery in learning and memory.

Five experiments were conducted to examine whether the superior recall of concrete over abstract words might be better accounted for in terms of relative differences in the processing of relational and distinctive information rather than redundant verbal and imaginal memory codes. Concrete and abstract word pairs were presented in the standard paired-associated learning task or under conditions intended to affect the nature and extent of relational processing between pair members. Concreteness effects were attenuated or eliminated when relational processing was prevented at encoding (Experiments 3, 4, and 5) or when the use of encoded relations within pairs was prevented at recall (Experiments 1, 2, and 3). The results indicated the viability of an account of concreteness effects in paired-associate learning based on the joint functions of distinctive and relational information. They also remove theoretical constraints imposed on imagery theories by the incorrect assumption of a uniform presence of concreteness effects in memory for word lists.

A reexamination of the role of imagery in learning and memory.

Five experiments were conducted to examine whether the superior recall of concrete over abstract words might be better accounted for in terms of relative differences in the processing of relational and distinctive information rather than redundant verbal and imaginal memory codes. Concrete and abstract word pairs were presented in the standard paired-associated learning task or under conditions intended to affect the nature and extent of relational processing between pair members. Concreteness effects were attenuated or eliminated when relational processing was prevented at encoding (Experiments 3, 4, and 5) or when the use of encoded relations within pairs was prevented at recall (Experiments 1, 2, and 3). The results indicated the viability of an account of concreteness effects in paired-associate learning based on the joint functions of distinctive and relational information. They also remove theoretical constraints imposed on imagery theories by the incorrect assumption of a uniform presence of concreteness effects in memory for word lists.

The role of imagery in memory: On shared and distinctive information.

The role of imagery in memory: On shared and distinctive information.