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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 26, 2026

Using a Classroom-Based Deese Roediger McDermott Paradigm to Assess the Effects of Imagery on False Memories

Using a Classroom-Based Deese Roediger McDermott Paradigm to Assess the Effects of Imagery on False Memories

Published on: November 14, 2018

Mental imagery and visual working memory.

Rebecca Keogh¹, Joel Pearson

¹School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.

|December 24, 2011

Summary

Visual working memory performance depends on mental imagery strength. Strong imagery relies on sensory mechanisms, while poor imagery uses alternative strategies, clarifying visual memory mechanisms.

Area of Science:

Cognitive Neuroscience
Psychology

Background:

Visual working memory (VWM) is crucial for linking past and future events.
Capacity limits and neural underpinnings of VWM remain incompletely understood.
Existing research has not fully reconciled differing theories on VWM mechanisms.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the relationship between mental imagery and VWM performance.
To explore the role of sensory-based mechanisms in VWM.
To identify distinct strategies employed in VWM based on imagery ability.

Main Methods:

Assessed individual mental imagery strength using binocular rivalry.
Measured visual working memory and iconic memory performance.
Manipulated background luminance during VWM and number string memory tasks.

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Last Updated: May 26, 2026

Using a Classroom-Based Deese Roediger McDermott Paradigm to Assess the Effects of Imagery on False Memories

Using a Classroom-Based Deese Roediger McDermott Paradigm to Assess the Effects of Imagery on False Memories

Published on: November 14, 2018

Eye Movement Monitoring of Memory

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Published on: August 15, 2010

Motor Imagery Performance Through Embodied Digital Twins in a Virtual Reality-Enabled Brain-Computer Interface Environment

Motor Imagery Performance Through Embodied Digital Twins in a Virtual Reality-Enabled Brain-Computer Interface Environment

Published on: May 10, 2024

Main Results:

VWM performance, unlike iconic memory, correlated with mental imagery strength.
For individuals with strong imagery, luminance changes impaired VWM and imagery tasks, but not number memory.
Individuals with poor imagery showed unaffected VWM performance despite luminance changes, suggesting different strategies.

Conclusions:

Mental imagery strength predicts VWM performance.
Strong imagery relies on sensory-based mechanisms disrupted by luminance.
A dichotomy exists in VWM strategies: sensory-based for strong imagery, alternative for poor imagery.