Imagery in the associative learning of schizophrenics.
The present experiment is similar to Bower's (1970) study on imagery as a relational organizer in paired-associate (PA) learning with normals. Three groups of 20 schizophrenic patients learned three different lists of 30 word-word paired-associates, which used either interactive imagery, separation imagery, or rote repetition encoding. Ss were tested on stimulus recognition and paired-associate recall, given recognition. Differences in stimulus recognition and paired-associate recall were not significant across the three encoding methods. Results suggest that schizophrenics are unable to benefit from imaginal cues to facilitate learning in a manner similar to normals. These results are interpreted as providing additional support for the notion that the schizophrenics' cognitive deficit is associated with the relational organizing process of learning.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001245:Association Learning; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D007092:Imagination; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D010153:Paired-Associate Learning; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology