Facilitating Lecture Recall: The Effects of Embedded Imagery-Evoking Phrases.

Three experiments describe the effects of imagery on learning a large and integrated body of information from a college lecture. It was hypothesized that high-imagery phrases would be more easily recalled and would promote recall of abstract verbal phrases in close temporal proximity to them. In experiment 1, 22 undergraduates attended a lecture without taking notes and then wrote down what they recalled before taking a multiple-choice test. In experiment 2, 23 undergraduates participated in a similar experiment with added instructions and a delay between lecture and testing. In experiment 3, 29 subjects were randomly assigned to notetaking or imaging conditions, with a 2-day interval and only the multiple choice (no free recall) test given. All three experiments indicate that highly visualizable material facilitates recall of nonvisual material presented in close proximity to it. Implications for classroom practice are discussed. Three appendixes contain the lecture text, the quiz, and free recall responses. (Contains 12 references.) (SLD)