Imagery and Verbal Ability and Recognition Memory for Pictures and Words in Males and Females

Abstract

Objective and subjective indices of imagery and verbal ability and their relationship to recognition memory for pictures and concrete words were examined in a large correlational study. Objective spatial tests of imagery proved to be better predictors of picture recognition than were self‐assessments, the Flags test excepted. Spatial tests also predicted word memory in males, but not females. Imagery control and imagery vividness bore little relation to recognition; vividness within specific modalities may have some influence, however, particularly in males. Verbal fluency and verbal comprehension were either unrelated or marginally negatively related to performance. In general, a more specialised pattern of ability‐performance correlations emerged for females than for males.