Johannes Engelkamp
Introduction
Werner Wippich
The dual coding theory and levels of processing
Michael Bock
Organisation processes for retaining concrete and abstract words - one memory
or two?
Johannes Engelkamp
Sensory and motor aspects of reference
Wiel H. Janssen
Imagery and perception.
An analysis of their relations with the help of the paradigm of selective
interference
Hans-Georg Bosshardt
Imagery - on the border between science and everyday understanding
Enclosure
Martin Krampen
Green archs
Discussion
Gereon Wolters
Lambert and logical diagrams.
A controversy between C. Hubig und E. Holenstein
Literary report
Klaus Dirscherl
Semiotics in France
The dual coding theory and levels of processing
Werner Wippich, University of Trier
Summary. Why are there differences in the memorizability of pictures and of
concrete and abstract words? The dual coding theory as developed by Paivio is
discussed as a possible explanation for this concreteness effect. Paivio
assumes two independent memory systems for the representation of knowledge
about the world: an imaginal and a verbal system. In order to supplement this
proposal, the levels-of-processing approach to human memory research is
introduced. The author tries to combine both conceptions. The proposed mode is
contrasted with alternative views concerning concreteness effects in memory
research.
Organisation processes for retaining concrete and
abstract words - one memory or two?
Michael Bock, Ruhr-University of Bochum
Summary. In an experimental test of Paivio's dual coding theory, 91 subjects
(Ss) had to organize 52 concrete and 52 abstract words twice in the same way.
The words had to be sorted into 3, 6, 9, 12 or 15 groups. The results for both
kinds of words were identical: for up to 12 groups, there was a strong
correlation between the number of words recalled and the number of sorting
groups prescribed. The sorting criterion, however, was established more quickly
with concrete than with abstract words. The ability of Ss to imagine objects
coded in language had a significant influence, too. In an additional test Ss
preferred to use many groups for concrete words, but only a few for abstract
ones. Conclusion: the organizational laws are the same for both kinds of words.
We conclude, therefore, contrary to Paivio's theory, that they are stored in
the same memory. They are, however, represented in memory by different kinds of
relational features.
Sensory and motor aspects of reference
Johannes Engelkamp, University of the Saarland
Summary. Meaning is sometimes interpreted as an image and sometimes as a bundle
of features which form a concept. In this article relationships between the two
approaches are analyzed and recent elaborations of the feature theoretic
approach are described. Attention is focussed on the distinction between
sensoric and motor features of meaning. Different types of concepts are
distinguished depending on the kind and number of features which constitute
them. The author reports on a first experiment that supports the assumption of
motor features of meaning.
Imagery and perception.
An analysis of their relations with the help of the paradigm of selective
interference
Wiel H. Janssen, Institute for Sensory Physiology TNO, Soesterberg
Summary. This paper discusses visual imagery research with regard to the
following four points: 1) the possibility that there is a high degree of
equivalence between imagery and perception, 2) the ways in which this
possibility could be investigated empirically, 3) the results of
experimentation with the so-called paradigm of selective interference, 4) the
development of a rather simple model of the visual image based on the evidence
from this paradigm.
Imagery - on the border between science and everyday
understanding
Hans-Georg Bosshardt, Ruhr-University Bochum
Summary. Imagery in its everyday sense refers to the more or less vivid
representation of an object or process which is formed under certain conditions
and which serves certain functions. This paper discusses different ways in
which the everyday experience of imagery has become the subject matter of
empirical investigation. Certain empirical investigations of the conditions
modifying image production demonstrate that everyday knowledge about imagery is
incomplete. From these investigations it is concluded that a person's ability
to form images is not related to the availability of sensory information but to
his ability to make one thing stand for another.
