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Concreteness and levels of processing: a test of the dual-coding hypothesis using dynamic visual noise
Benjamin A Anderson1, Scott A Peterson1
1Department of Social Science, Southwest Minnesota State University, Marshall, MN, USA.
Memory (Hove, England)
|September 13, 2022
Summary
Concreteness and levels of processing effects persist even with dynamic visual noise, suggesting visual imagery alone doesn't fully explain these memory phenomena. An extended dual-coding theory incorporating context availability offers a better explanation.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Memory Research
Background:
- Concreteness and levels of processing (LOP) effects are traditionally linked to visual imagery and depth of cognitive engagement, respectively.
- Dynamic visual noise (DVN) is hypothesized to disrupt visual imagery generation, potentially eliminating the concreteness effect.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of visual imagery in concreteness and LOP effects.
- To determine if DVN conditions abolish or reduce these memory effects.
Main Methods:
- Four experiments were conducted manipulating DVN during the study phase.
- Participants studied concrete and abstract words under varying DVN conditions.
- Memory was assessed using recall and recognition tests.
Main Results:
- Concreteness and LOP effects were observed even under DVN conditions.
- While some support for dual-coding theory was found, visual imagery did not fully account for the observed effects.
- The persistence of effects under DVN suggests other factors are involved.
Conclusions:
- Visual imagery alone does not fully explain concreteness and LOP effects.
- An extended dual-coding theory, incorporating context availability, provides a more comprehensive explanation for these memory phenomena.
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