Imagery and Verbal Strategies in Spatial Memory for Route and Survey Descriptions

Abstract

Being able to represent and remember verbally-encoded information about spatial environments from different perspectives is important for numerous daily activities. The present study examined how frequently individuals spontaneously engage in visual mental imagery and verbal rehearsal strategies in memory recall of spatial descriptions, and whether using certain strategies is associated with better recall performance. Memory recall for route (person-centred) and survey (object-centred) spatial descriptions was examined in a sample of 105 neurotypical individuals, who also reported to what extent they used route- and survey-based mental imagery and verbal rehearsal strategies in each description. Results showed that participants favoured a path visualisation strategy to recall the route description and a map visualisation strategy to recall the survey description. Regression models further showed that employing both imagery and verbal strategies was associated with better recall for both route and survey descriptions, although imagery strategies held a higher predictive power. The present findings highlight the fact that the spontaneous use of internal strategies in the form of visual imagery and verbal rehearsal is ubiquitous when recalling spatial descriptions and a core part of efficient spatial memory functioning.

Keywords: imagery; memory strategies; navigation; route; spatial descriptions; spatial memory; spatial perspective; survey.

Figure 1

Use of verbal rehearsal, path visualisation and map visualisation in memory recall of route and survey descriptions. Note. Error bars show the standard error of the mean; N = 105.

Figure 2

Distribution graphs of using verbal rehearsal (a), path visualisation (b), and map visualisation (c) memory strategies in the route description among participants.

Figure 3

Distribution graphs of using verbal rehearsal (a), path visualisation (b), and map visualisation (c) memory strategies in the survey description among participants.

Figure 4

Scattergram of memory recall performance as a function of the type of strategy used (verbal repetition, path visualization, map visualization) for the route description. Note. For demonstration purposes, data points have been spaced by a 0.01–0.09% margin to reduce their visual overlapping; N = 105.

Figure 5

Scattergram of memory recall performance as a function of the type of strategy used (verbal repetition, path visualization, map visualization) for the survey description. Note. For demonstration purposes, data points have been spaced by a 0.01–0.09% margin to reduce their visual overlapping; N = 105.