One of the most effective ways to increase a participant’s performance in paired associate task (e.g., study OVEN-APPLE, test OVEN-?) is to tell them to “form a mental image with both of the words interacting together”. This strategy, known as interactive imagery, requires no previous training. A simple instruction results in participants who are significantly better at recalling word pairs. Interactive imagery is just one of many strategies that instruct the use of mental imagery (e.g., method of loci, memory palace). There is also evidence that visuospatial ability predicts the effective use of the method of loci, which suggests that individuals with high mental imagery ability benefit the most from imagery-based memory strategies. I will present data that shows a different pattern for interactive imagery, challenging mental imagery as the sole factor in strategy mediated effects. I will also talk about the implications of interactive imagery for mathematical models of memory. It is well known that motivation, cognitive ability and memory strategies have an effect on memory performance. However these factors are not explicitly accounted for in the development of mathematical models. This leads to a larger question, are the behavioural patterns that we rely on to evaluate our models robust across a variety of conditions that are known to affect memory behaviour? I compare behavioural measures between participants asked to use interactive imagery and controls to see if we can answer this question.
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Upcoming Talk:
Jeremy ThomasDepartments of Psychology
University of Alberta
Nov 22nd
20193:00-4:00 pm
BS-P 319N
The Nature of Interactive Imagery as a Strategy for Association Memory
and its Implications for Mathematical Modelling