Bizarreness versus interaction of mental images as determinants of learning

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

7-1972

Department

Department of Cognitive and Learning Sciences

Abstract

Previous studies of the effect of bizarreness and interaction of mental images upon learning are subject to criticisms that the two variables are either confounded or not effectively manipulated. An attempt was made to separate the effects of these variables by presenting pictures along with word pairs. The pictures showed the words of each pair (a) interacting and bizarre, (b) interacting and nonbizarre, (c) noninteracting and bizarre, or (d) noninteracting and nonbizarre. A control group saw only the word pairs. Subjects were given one learning trial followed by a recall test. Bizarreness had no effect upon recall performance. In comparison with the no-picture control, interacting pictures produced superior performance whereas noninteracting pictures resulted in lower performance.

Publication Title

Cognitive Psychology

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