EFFECTS OF IMAGERY ON PERCEPTUAL IMPLICIT MEMORY TESTS

Four experiments demonstrate that imagery can promote priming on perce ptual implicit memory tests. When Ss were given words during a study p hase and asked to form mental images of corresponding pictures, more p riming was obtained on a picture fragment identification test than fro m a study condition in which Ss performed semantic analyses of words. Imaginal priming of picture fragment identification occurred for recov erable fragments, but not for nonrecoverable fragments. The imagery ef fect was restricted to the imaged type of material: Imagining pictures (when presented with words) enhanced priming on a picture fragment id entification test but not on word fragment completion. Similarly, when pictures were presented, imaging the corresponding words increased pr iming on word fragment completion but not on picture fragment identifi cation. Overall, results support the hypothesis that imagining engages some of the same mechanisms used in perception and thereby produces p riming.