The Effect of Abstract and Concrete Contexts on the Imageability and Recallability of Words

1995 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 227-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Tracy ◽  
William R. Betts ◽  
Pauline Ketsios
Keyword(s):  
Mental Imagery ◽  
Psychology Students ◽  
Introductory Psychology ◽  
Abstract Words ◽  
Concrete Words ◽  
The Way

Word imageability, the degree to which different words arouse imagery, is a powerful variable affecting mental imagery and memory. This study examined whether word imageability varies depending on the context within which words are presented. We randomly sampled abstract (low imageability) words and also concrete (high imageability) words from available norms. Introductory psychology students rated the words for imageability in different contexts. In the mixed content, students rated the abstract and concrete words mixed within the same set of words, similarly to the way words were rated in the norms. Concrete words were rated as more imageable than abstract words, replicating results from the norms. In the unmixed contents, students rated only abstract words or only concrete words. Surprisingly, concrete and abstract words no longer differed in rated imageability. We concluded that word imageability is not due to the mental imagery aroused by a particular word. Rather, a word's imageability is profoundly influenced by the imageability of surrounding words. This outcome opposes the typical interpretation that word imageability measures the abstractness-concreteness of the referenced object and also how recallable the word will be.

Imaginal, Semantic, and Surface-Level Processing of Concrete and Abstract Words: An Electrophysiological Investigation

2000 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 1024-1037 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Caroline West ◽  
Phillip J. Holcomb
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Mental Imagery ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Surface Characteristics ◽  
Imagery Task ◽  
Cognitive Operations ◽  
Semantic Decision ◽  
Abstract Words ◽  
Concrete Concepts ◽  
Concrete Words

Words representing concrete concepts are processed more quickly and efficiently than words representing abstract concepts. Concreteness effects have also been observed in studies using event-related brain potentials (ERPs). The aim of this study was to examine concrete and abstract words using both reaction time (RT) and ERP measurements to determine (1) at what point in the stream of cognitive processing concreteness effects emerge and (2) how different types of cognitive operations influence these concreteness effects. Three groups of subjects performed a sentence verification task in which the final word of each sentence was concrete or abstract. For each group the truthfulness judgment required either (1) image generation, (2) a semantic decision, or (3) evaluation of surface characteristics. Concrete and abstract words produced similar RTs and ERPs in the surface task, suggesting that postlexical semantic processing is necessary to elicit concreteness effects. In both the semantic and imagery tasks, RTs were shorter for concrete than for abstract words. This difference was greatest in the imagery task. Also, in both of these tasks concrete words elicited more negative ERPs than abstract words between 300 and 550 msec (N400). This effect was widespread across the scalp and may reflect activation in a linguistic semantic system common to both concrete and abstract words. ERPs were also more negative for concrete than abstract words between 550 and 800 msec. This effect was more frontally distributed and was most evident in the imagery task. We propose that this later anterior effect represents a distinct ERP component (N700) that is sensitive to the use of mental imagery. The N700 may reflect the access of specific characteristics of the imaged item or activation in a working memory system specific to mental imagery. These results also support the extended dual-coding hypothesis that superior associative connections and the use of mental imagery both contribute to processing advantages for concrete words over abstract words.

Abstract Semantic Associative Network Training: A Replication and Update of an Abstract Word Retrieval Therapy Program

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 1574-1595
Author(s):  
Chaleece W. Sandberg ◽  
Teresa Gray
Keyword(s):  
Concrete Word ◽  
Abstract Word ◽  
Distinct Pattern ◽  
Word Retrieval ◽  
Effect Sizes ◽  
Associative Network ◽  
Direct Training ◽  
Network Training ◽  
Abstract Words ◽  
Concrete Words

Purpose We report on a study that replicates previous treatment studies using Abstract Semantic Associative Network Training (AbSANT), which was developed to help persons with aphasia improve their ability to retrieve abstract words, as well as thematically related concrete words. We hypothesized that previous results would be replicated; that is, when abstract words are trained using this protocol, improvement would be observed for both abstract and concrete words in the same context-category, but when concrete words are trained, no improvement for abstract words would be observed. We then frame the results of this study with the results of previous studies that used AbSANT to provide better evidence for the utility of this therapeutic technique. We also discuss proposed mechanisms of AbSANT. Method Four persons with aphasia completed one phase of concrete word training and one phase of abstract word training using the AbSANT protocol. Effect sizes were calculated for each word type for each phase. Effect sizes for this study are compared with the effect sizes from previous studies. Results As predicted, training abstract words resulted in both direct training and generalization effects, whereas training concrete words resulted in only direct training effects. The reported results are consistent across studies. Furthermore, when the data are compared across studies, there is a distinct pattern of the added benefit of training abstract words using AbSANT. Conclusion Treatment for word retrieval in aphasia is most often aimed at concrete words, despite the usefulness and pervasiveness of abstract words in everyday conversation. We show the utility of AbSANT as a means of improving not only abstract word retrieval but also concrete word retrieval and hope this evidence will help foster its application in clinical practice.

Temporal Personality Variations among Participants from a University Subject Pool

1987 ◽  
Vol 60 (3_part_2) ◽  
pp. 1247-1254
Author(s):  
Ronald R. Holden ◽  
John R. Reddon
Keyword(s):  
Psychology Students ◽  
Temporal Variations ◽  
Introductory Psychology ◽  
Personality Variables ◽  
Personality Differences ◽  
Personality Research ◽  
Subject Pool

This study examined personality differences in participants from a university subject pool as a function of the time of participation during the academic term and year. For 150 introductory psychology students with required participation in a subject pool, significant associations were found between time of participation and specific personality variables as measured by Jackson's Personality Research Form. Significant temporal associations with more general personality modal profiles were also obtained. Investigators using university subject pools are warned that these temporal variations in personality may represent possible confounds in research.

Perceptual and Linguistic Encoding in Recognition Memory and Paired-Associate Learning

1971 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 803-806 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edgar A. Chenoweth ◽  
Gerry L. Wilcove
Keyword(s):  
Recognition Memory ◽  
Paired Associate ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Psychology Students ◽  
Paired Associate Learning ◽  
Introductory Psychology ◽  
Associate Learning ◽  
Paired Associates

A perceptual paired-associates task was presented in which pictures of objects and consonant-vowel-consonant trigrams served as stimulus and response members of the P-A unit, respectively. Introductory psychology students had been classified previously into encoding groups on the basis of their performance on a memory task. The prediction that the linguistic encoders would learn the PA task more slowly than the perceptual encoders was supported by the results.

Mood State, Issue Involvement, and Argument Strength on Responses to Persuasive Appeals

2007 ◽  
Vol 101 (3) ◽  
pp. 739-753 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert C. Sinclair ◽  
Tanya K. Lovsin ◽  
Sean E. Moore
Keyword(s):  
Mood State ◽  
Psychology Students ◽  
Introductory Psychology ◽  
Cognitive Responses ◽  
High Involvement ◽  
Argument Strength ◽  
Induction Condition ◽  
Issue Involvement ◽  
Thought Listing ◽  
Sad Mood

This study investigated the effects of mood state, issue involvement, and argument strength on responses to persuasive appeals. Through an unrelated second study paradigm, 144 introductory psychology students were randomly assigned to High or Low Issue Involvement, Happy or Sad Mood Inductions, and Strong or Weak Argument conditions. Attitudes, measured on 9-point Likert-type scales, and cognitive responses, measured through a thought listing, were assessed. On attitudes, people in the Happy Induction condition were equally persuaded by Strong and Weak Arguments, whereas people in the Sad Induction condition were persuaded by Strong, but not Weak, Arguments. Involvement had no effect. On the thought-listing measures, people in the Happy Induction condition showed modest elaboration. A stronger pattern of effects, consistent with high elaboration, was noted on the thought listings of people in the Sad Induction condition and who were in the High Involvement group. Interestingly, people in the Sad Induction condition who were in the Low Involvement group showed mood-congruency on thoughts. The data suggest that the effects of mood state are not moderated by the effects of issue Involvement on this measure of attitudes but that there may be some moderation on measures of elaboration. Implications and directions for research are discussed.

scholarly journals Functional Neuroanatomy of Contextual Acquisition of Concrete and Abstract Words

2009 ◽  
Vol 21 (11) ◽  
pp. 2154-2171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Mestres-Missé ◽  
Thomas F. Münte ◽  
Antoni Rodriguez-Fornells
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Functional Neuroanatomy ◽  
Linguistic Context ◽  
Abstract Concepts ◽  
New Words ◽  
Simulation Paradigm ◽  
Abstract Words ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Concrete Words

The meaning of a novel word can be acquired by extracting it from linguistic context. Here we simulated word learning of new words associated to concrete and abstract concepts in a variant of the human simulation paradigm that provided linguistic context information in order to characterize the brain systems involved. Native speakers of Spanish read pairs of sentences in order to derive the meaning of a new word that appeared in the terminal position of the sentences. fMRI revealed that learning the meaning associated to concrete and abstract new words was qualitatively different and recruited similar brain regions as the processing of real concrete and abstract words. In particular, learning of new concrete words selectively boosted the activation of the ventral anterior fusiform gyrus, a region driven by imageability, which has previously been implicated in the processing of concrete words.

Cultures of Diversity

2017 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 100-107
Author(s):  
Andrew M. Guest ◽  
Zachary L. Simmons ◽  
Andrew Downs ◽  
Mark R. Pitzer
Keyword(s):  
Psychology Students ◽  
Introductory Psychology ◽  
Multicultural Awareness ◽  
Important Goal ◽  
Multicultural Sensitivity ◽  
Psychology Courses ◽  
Nature And Nurture ◽  
Undergraduate Psychology ◽  
Multiple Challenges ◽  
Topical Knowledge

Teachers of psychology tend to agree that learning about diversity is an important goal for undergraduate psychology courses. There is significantly less agreement about what aspects of diversity psychology students should understand. The current research proposes and investigates two potentially distinct ways students might understand diversity: more scientific understandings of topical knowledge related to nature and nurture and more humanistic understandings related to multicultural awareness and sensitivity. Drawing on standardized surveys and open-ended responses to diversity questions from the beginning and end of introductory psychology courses, results indicate that students’ topical knowledge of diversity is not strongly associated with multicultural sensitivity. These results emphasize the importance of clarifying the meanings of addressing diversity as a course goal and are discussed in relation to the multiple challenges of teaching about diversity in psychology courses.

Counterattitudinal Advocacy as a Means of Enhancing Instructional Effectiveness: How to Teach Students What They Do Not Want to Know

1996 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 215-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard L. Miller ◽  
William J. Wozniak ◽  
Marci R. Rust ◽  
Beverly R. Miller ◽  
Jennifer Slezak
Keyword(s):  
Psychology Students ◽  
Instructional Effectiveness ◽  
Introductory Psychology ◽  
Instructional Materials ◽  
Psychological Phenomena ◽  
Pedagogical Techniques ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Erroneous Beliefs ◽  
Beginning Students

This study, was designed to determine the effectiveness of counterattitudinal advocacy in overcoming beginning students' erroneous beliefs about psychological phenomena. Introductory psychology students (N = 71) either wrote an essay (counterattitudinal advocacy) or read an essay supporting a scientifically acceptable position contrary to one of their beliefs. Writing a counterattitudinal essay was more effective in changing students' beliefs than either reading such an essay or learning about the topic through Standard pedagogical techniques. The method of delivering instructional materials (lecture vs. text vs. both lecture and text) made no significant difference in the elimination of erroneous beliefs.

SUBJECT POOL SIGN-UP PROCEDURES: A THREAT TO EXTERNAL VALIDITY

1989 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey M. Jackson ◽  
Mary E. Procidano ◽  
Carrie J. Cohen
Keyword(s):  
External Validity ◽  
Psychology Students ◽  
Introductory Psychology ◽  
Individual Group ◽  
Personality Dimensions ◽  
Self Selection ◽  
Subject Pool ◽  
Personality Questionnaires ◽  
Biased Samples

The extent to which introductory psychology students' self-selection into experiments produced biased samples was assessed in two experiments. As part of the normal sign-up procedure, students chose between apparently different experiments with quite different descriptions and between individual and group sign-up slots. Upon arriving at the laboratory, all students filled out personality questionnaires. Results demonstrated that students sorted themselves into experiments as well as into individual group sign-up slots in relation to personality dimensions. The resulting samples in each experiment were thus non-representative of even the restricted introductory psychology subject population. Implications and recommendations for the use of such populations were discussed.

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