When do words hurt? A multiprocess view of the effects of verbalization on visual memory.

Brown, Charity; Brandimonte, Maria A.; Wickham, Lee H. V.; Bosco, Andrea; Schooler, Jonathan W.

doi:10.1037/a0037222

Cited by 11 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 41 publications

(156 reference statements)

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“…They showed that labeling can hamper visual LTM memory, consistent with a verbal overshadowing effect (Brandimonte, Hitch, & Bishop, 1992); however, this effect can be reversed if the visual context for the studied item (e.g. its color) is reinstated at test (Brandimonte, Schooler, & Gabbino, 1997), and the impairing effect depends on the match between the type of verbal description (one label vs. description of features) and the information required at test (global or featurebased) (Brown, Brandimonte, Wickham, Bosco, & Schooler, 2014). They have also shown that verbal descriptions may be beneficial when generated in the presence of the stimulus, but not during a retention interval (Nakabayashi, Mike, Brandimonte, & Lloyd-Jones, 2012).…”

Section: Dual-trace (Visual + Verbal)mentioning

confidence: 97%

The interplay of language and visual perception in working memory

2017

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How do perception and language interact to form the representations that guide our thoughts and actions over the short-term? Here, we provide a first examination of this question by investigating the role of verbal labels in a continuous visual working memory (WM) task. Across four experiments, participants retained in memory the continuous color of a set of dots which were presented sequentially (Experiments 1-3) or simultaneously (Experiment 4). At test, they reproduced the colors of all dots using a color wheel. During stimulus presentation participants were required to either label the colors (color labeling) or to repeat "bababa" aloud (articulatory suppression), hence prompting or preventing verbal labeling, respectively. We tested four competing hypotheses of the labeling effect: (1) labeling generates a verbal representation that overshadows the visual representation; (2) labeling yields a verbal representation in addition to the visual one; (3) the labels function as a retrieval cue, adding distinctiveness to items in memory; and (4) labels activate visual categorical representations in long-term memory. Collectively, our experiments show that labeling does not overshadow the visual input; it augments it. Mixture modeling showed that labeling increased the quantity and quality of information in WM. Our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that labeling activates visual long-term categorical representations which help in reducing the noise in the internal representations of the visual stimuli in WM.

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Section: Dual-trace (Visual + Verbal)mentioning

confidence: 97%

The interplay of language and visual perception in working memory

2017

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“…Both memory traces may be used for retrieval, and thus enhance retrieval performance. Such advantages have been repeatedly shown, for example, in verbal recall of single items (Paivio and Csapo, 1973 ), as well as for verbalizations in recognition of faces (Brown and Lloyd-Jones, 2005 , 2006 ), drawings (Brown et al, 2014 ), pictures of mushrooms (Melcher and Schooler, 2004 ), and dynamic scenes (Huff and Schwan, 2008 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

How to Best Name a Place? Facilitation and Inhibition of Route Learning Due to Descriptive and Arbitrary Location Labels

et al. 2016

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Establishing verbal memory traces for non-verbal stimuli was reported to facilitate or inhibit memory for the non-verbal stimuli. We show that these effects are also observed in a domain not indicated before—wayfinding. Fifty-three participants followed a guided route in a virtual environment. They were asked to remember half of the intersections by relying on the visual impression only. At the other 50% of the intersections, participants additionally heard a place name, which they were asked to memorize. For testing, participants were teleported to the intersections and were asked to indicate the subsequent direction of the learned route. In Experiment 1, intersections' names were arbitrary (i.e., not related to the visual impression). Here, participants performed more accurately at unnamed intersections. In Experiment 2, intersections' names were descriptive and participants' route memory was more accurate at named intersections. Results have implications for naming places in a city and for wayfinding aids.

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“…First, the dynamometer is continuous and substantially more sensitive than existing measures. Second, the device can be used without significantly impairing task performance, and may help to mitigate verbal overshadowing effects (Brown et al, 2014;Creswell et al, 2016;Schooler & Engstler-Schooler, 1990). Third, when a traditional warmth measure is used, substantial data (up to 70% of trials, are unusable because participants often solve the problem too quickly.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The authors proposed that the feeling of hunger, like many other non-verbal experiences, is difficult to put into words. It is also known that verbalization can be disruptive to both task performance and subsequent memory (e.g., Schooler & Engstler-Schooler, 1990;Schooler, 2002Schooler, , 2011Brown et al, 2014). To solve this problem, the authors tested whether handgrip pressure over time-as measured by a dynamometer-could be used as a visceral, non-verbal alternative to the commonly used self-report measures of hunger.…”

Section: A Visceral Alternativementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The problem is exacerbated further because the mere act of verbalizing can be sufficient to disrupt performance and memory (Brown, Brandimonte, Wickham, Bosco, & Schooler, 2014;Schooler, Ohlsson, & Brooks, 1993;Schooler & Engstler-Schooler, 1990). In one such example, found that verbalizing strategies interfered with insight problem solving across four experiments.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The phenomenology of truth: the psychological functions of the insight experience

Laukkonen¹

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Nearly all waking moments are accompanied by an endless stream of thoughts and ideas passing rapidly through the mind (James, 1890). Many of these mental events can feel unproductive, arbitrary, or even distracting. But once in a while, an idea appears in the stream that is immediately imbued with a sense of profound importance and value. The central thesis of my work is that this phenomenologyepiphanies, insight experiences, and Eureka moments-serve an important function in human decision-making. I propose that the feelings associated with our ideas are like lights whose brightness guide the incognisant mind in choosing to trust only the best ideas; they help us to intuitively discriminate the diamonds from the rocks, so to speak. This functional view puts insight experiences into a broader context in human cognition than before. By evaluating insight experiences from a higher level of analysis, we are able to make and test novel predictions regarding the ways that spontaneous feelings of insight guide decisions in contexts of uncertainty.The thesis is divided into two parts. In Part 1-How to elicit and detect insight moments-Chapter 1 begins by testing a model of the neuro-cognitive processes commonly believed to elicit insight experiences, known as restructuring or representational change. I then evaluate the efficacy of existing methods for detecting insight experiences in controlled experiments. In the final Chapter of Part 1, I develop and test a novel visceral and embodied measure that captures metacognitions during problem solving as well as the sudden insight experience in real-time. In Part 2-Why we have insight experiences-I begin with a theoretical discussion of insight as a heuristic in contexts of uncertainty, where I propose that people rely on insight phenomenology in order to appraise new ideas. In a subsequent empirical Chapter, I describe three experiments that broadly test and affirm the predictions made by the Eureka Heuristic model of insight. The results of these experiments show that impulsive feelings of insight-and their intensity-predict the accuracy of responses in contexts of uncertainty, in both problem solving and sensory identification tasks. In the third experiment, I show that when participants are presented with a generalknowledge 'fact'-and an insight experience is artificially elicited at the same timethen the participants are more likely to believe that the claim is true.iii

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When do words hurt? A multiprocess view of the effects of verbalization on visual memory.

Cited by 11 publications

References 41 publications

The interplay of language and visual perception in working memory

The interplay of language and visual perception in working memory

How to Best Name a Place? Facilitation and Inhibition of Route Learning Due to Descriptive and Arbitrary Location Labels

The phenomenology of truth: the psychological functions of the insight experience

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