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Individual differences in visual imagery determine how event information is remembered

DOI: 10.1080/09658211.2016.1178777
Sheldon, S., Amaral, R., & Levine, B. (2017). Individual differences in visual imagery determine how event information is remembered. Memory, 25(3), 360–369. doi:10.1080/09658211.2016.1178777

Abstract

Individuals differ in how they mentally imagine past events. When reminiscing about a past experience, some individuals remember the event accompanied by rich visual images, while others will remember it with few of these images. In spite of the implications that these differences in the use of imagery have to the understanding of human memory, few studies have taken them into consideration. We examined how imagery interference affecting event memory retrieval was differently modulated by spatial and object imagery ability. We presented participants with a series of video-clips depicting complex events. Participants subsequently answered true/false questions related to event, spatial, or feature details contained in the videos, while simultaneously viewing stimuli that interfered with visual imagery processes (dynamic visual noise; DVN) or a control grey screen. The impact of DVN on memory accuracy was related to individual differences in spatial imagery ability. Individuals high in spatial imagery were less accurate at recalling details from the videos when simultaneously viewing the DVN stimuli compared to those low in spatial imagery ability. This finding held for questions related to the event and spatial details but not feature details. This study advocates for the inclusion of individual differences when studying memory processes.

Authors

  • Signy Sheldon2
  • Robert Amaral1
  • Brian Levine6

What This Study Is About

Researchers wanted to see if the way we remember the past depends on how well we can "see" things in our minds. They specifically looked at whether people who are good at picturing layouts get distracted more easily when they try to recall a memory.

How They Studied It

The team worked with 35 young adults. First, they used a questionnaire to see how well each person could use mental imagery—the ability to picture things in your mind. They looked at two types: "object imagery" (picturing colors and details) and "spatial imagery" (picturing where things are and how they move).
Participants watched 30 short videos of everyday scenes. Later, they answered True/False questions about what they saw. Here’s the catch: while answering, they sometimes had to look at a screen of flickering black-and-white dots (like TV static). This "visual noise" is designed to act like a "signal jammer" for the brain's ability to create mental pictures.

What They Found

The "TV static" only tripped up the people who were really good at picturing layouts! Participants with high spatial imagery became significantly less accurate at remembering what happened in the videos when the static was on the screen.
However, for people with lower imagery skills (closer to aphantasia, which is the inability to form mental images), the static didn't matter at all. Their memory stayed just as sharp whether the screen was clear or noisy. It was as if their memory was "static-proof."

What This Might Mean

This suggests that our brains have different "operating systems" for memory. If you have a vivid mind’s eye, your brain relies heavily on those pictures to remember. If that "visual channel" is blocked, your memory suffers. But if you have aphantasia, your brain likely uses a non-visual way to store information—like a descriptive list of facts—which makes your memory more resilient to visual distractions.
*Note:* This was a small study of 35 people, so we can't be certain it applies to everyone. Also, researchers used True/False questions rather than asking people to describe the videos in their own words, which might show different results.

One Interesting Detail

The researchers found that the visual noise only messed with memories of *where* things were and *what* happened, but it didn't affect memory for specific details like the color of a person's shirt!
This summary was generated by AI and may contain errors. Always refer to the original paper for accuracy.