Abstract
Frost (1971, 1972) demonstrated that subjects can organize pictures by using either visual features or semantic features of the items presented. For the present study, a set of pictures was constructed that could be organized visually and semantically. The subjects viewed these pictures at either a fast rate (1.5 sec/item) or a slow rate (5 sec/item) of presentation. The subjects expected a recognition task, which would enhance attention to visual detail. Clustering by visual (spatial orientation) and semantic (taxonomic category) categories on an unexpected recall task was measured. At the fast presentation rate, semantic and visual clustering occurred at equal levels, but when presentation rate was decreased (longer presentation times), visual clustering decreased and semantic clustering increased. These results are discussed in terms of the changing representation of picture information as a function of study time.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Dalrymple-Alford, E. C. (1970). Measurement of clustering in free recall. Psychological Bulletin, 70, 32–34.
Frost, N. (1971). Clustering by visual shape in the free recall of visual stimuli. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 88, 409–413.
Frost, N. (1972). Encoding and retrieval in visual memory tasks. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 9, 317–326.
Mandler, J. M., & Johnson, N. S. (1976). Some of the thousand words a picture is worth. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning & Memory, 2, 529–540.
McClelland, J. L., & Rumelhart, D. E. (1981). An interactive model of context effects in letter perception: I. An account of basic findings. Psychological Review, 88, 375–407.
Nelson, D., Reed, V., & Walung, J. (1976). Pictorial superiority effect. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning & Memory, 2, 523–528.
Smith, A. D. (1983). Interaction between aging and memory (Tech. Rep. No. 3). Atlanta: Georgia Institute of Technology.
Winograd, E., & Smith, A. D. (1978). When do semantic orienting tasks hinder recall? Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 11, 165–167.
Winograd, E., Smith, A. D., & Simon, E. (1982). Age-related differences in the picture-superiority effect. Journal of Gerontology, 37, 70–75.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
The authors wish to thank Nancy Frost for providing copies of stimulus materials used in her own research and Patricia Tun for help in data analysis. This research was supported in part by an NIH research grant (AG-00445-08) from the National Institute on Aging to the third author.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Stine, E.L., Benham, A.E. & Smith, A.D. Visual and semantic organization in picture recall. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 25, 89–91 (1987). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03330293
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03330293