Dual-coding theory: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Theory of cognition}}

'''Dual-coding theory''', a theory of cognition, was hypothesized by [[Allan Paivio]] of the University of Western Ontario in 1971. In developing this theory, Paivio used the idea that the formation of mental images [[Picture superiority effect|aids]] learning.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Reed, Stephen K.|title=Cognition : theories and applications|isbn=978-1-133-49228-3|oclc=1040947645}}</ref> According to Paivio, there are two ways a person could expand on learned material: verbal associations and visual imagery. Dual-coding theory postulates that both visual and verbal [[information]] is used to represent [[information]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Sternberg, Robert J, author.|title=Cognitive psychology|date=January 2016|isbn=978-1-305-64465-6|oclc=1037299606}}</ref> Visual and verbal [[information]] are processed differently and along distinct channels in the human mind, creating separate representations for information processed in each channel. The mental codes corresponding to these representations are used to organize incoming information that can be acted upon, stored, and retrieved for subsequent use. Both visual and verbal codes can be used when recalling information.<ref name=":1" /> For example, say a person has stored the stimulus concept "dog" as both the word 'dog' and as the image of a dog. When asked to recall the stimulus, the person can retrieve either the word or the image individually, or both simultaneously. If the word is recalled, the image of the dog is not lost and can still be retrieved at a later point in time. The ability to code a stimulus two different ways increases the chance of remembering that item compared to if the stimulus was only coded one way.

[[File:Visual-Storytelling.jpg|thumb|275x275px|Visual Storytelling by Suhani Gowan.<ref>{{Cite journal |jstor = 985378|title = The Principle of Associative Symmetry|journal = Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society|volume = 106|issue = 2|pages = 135–163|last1 = Asch|first1 = Solomon E.|last2 = Ebenholtz|first2 = Sheldon M.|year = 1962}}</ref>]]

'''Dual-coding theory''' is a theory of cognition that suggests that the mind processes information along two different channels; verbal and nonverbal. It was hypothesized by [[Allan Paivio]] of the University of Western Ontario in 1971. In developing this theory, Paivio used the idea that the formation of [[mental imagery]] aids learning through the [[picture superiority effect]].<ref name="Reed, Stephen K.-2012">{{Cite book|last=Reed, Stephen K.|title=Cognition : theories and applications|date=12 April 2012|publisher=Wadsworth, Cengage Learning |isbn=978-1-133-49228-3|oclc=1040947645}}</ref>

'''Dual-codingAccording theory'''to Paivio, athere theoryare oftwo cognition,ways wasa hypothesizedperson bycould [[Allanexpand Paivio]]on oflearned thematerial: Universityverbal ofassociations Westernand Ontario in 1971imagery. In developing thisDual-coding theory, Paivio used the ideapostulates that theboth formationsensory ofimagery mentaland imagesverbal [[Picture superiority effect|aidsinformation]] learningis used to represent information.<ref name=":0">{{CiteCitation book|lastlast1=Reed,Sadoski Stephen|first1=Mark K.|title=CognitionA :Dual theoriesCoding andTheoretical Model of Reading applications|isbnurl=978-1-133-49228-3http://dx.doi.org/10.1598/0872075028.47 |oclcpages=1040947645}}</ref>1329–1362 According|place=DE to|publisher=International Paivio,Reading thereAssociation are|access-date=2022-04-23 two|last2=Paivio ways|first2=Allan|series=Theoretical aModels personand couldProcesses expandof onReading learned|date=2004 material:|volume=1 verbal associations and visual imagery|doi=10.1598/0872075028.47 Dual|doi-codingbroken-date=12 theoryJuly postulates2025 that|isbn=0-87207-502-8 both|url-access=subscription visual and verbal [[information]] is used to represent [[information]].}}</ref><ref name=":1Sternberg-2016">{{Cite book|last=Sternberg, |first=Robert J, author.|title=Cognitive psychology|date=January 2016|publisher=Cengage Learning |isbn=978-1-305-64465-6|oclc=1037299606}}</ref> VisualImagery and verbal [[information]] are processed differently and along distinct channels in the human mind, creating separate representations for information processed in each channel. The mental codes corresponding to these representations are used to organize incoming information that can be acted upon, stored, and retrieved for subsequent use. Both visualimagery and verbal codes can be used when recalling information.<ref name=":1Sternberg-2016" /> For example, say a person has stored the stimulus concept "dog" as both the word 'dog' and as the image (appearance, sound, smell, and other sensory information) of a dog. When asked to recall the stimulus, the person can retrieve either the word or the image individually, or both simultaneously. If the word is recalled, the image of the dog is not lost and can still be retrieved at a later point in time. The ability to code a stimulus two different ways increases the chance of remembering that item compared to if the stimulus was only coded one way.

There has been controversy to the limitations of the dual-coding theory. Dual-coding theory does not take into account the possibility of cognition being mediated by something other than words and images. Not enough research has been done to determine if words and images are the only way we remember items, and the theory would not hold true if another form of codes were discovered.<ref name=":2">{{Citation|last=Pylyshyn|first=Zenon W.|title=What the Mind's Eye Tells the Mind's Brain: A Critique of Mental Imagery|date=1973|work=Images, Perception, and Knowledge|pages=1–36|publisher=Springer Netherlands|doi=10.1007/978-94-010-1193-8_1|isbn=978-94-010-1195-2}}</ref> Another limitation of the dual-coding theory is that it is only valid for tests on which people are asked to focus on identifying how concepts are related.<ref name=":0" /> If associations between a word and an image cannot be formed, it is much harder to remember and recall the word at a later point in time. While this limits the effectiveness of the dual-coding theory, it is still valid over a wide range of circumstances and can be used to improve memory.<ref name=":0" />

There has been controversy to the limitations of the dual-coding theory. Dual-coding theory does not take into account the possibility of cognition being mediated by something other than words and images. Not enough research has been done to determine if words and images are the only way we remember items, and the theory would not hold true if another form of codes were discovered.<ref name=":2Pylyshyn-1973">{{Citation|last=Pylyshyn|first=Zenon W.|title=What the Mind's Eye Tells the Mind's Brain: A Critique of Mental Imagery|date=1973|work=Images, Perception, and Knowledge|pages=1–36|publisher=Springer Netherlands|doi=10.1007/978-94-010-1193-8_1|isbn=978-94-010-1195-2}}</ref> Another limitation of the dual-coding theory is that it is only valid for tests on which people are asked to focus on identifying how concepts are related.<ref name=":0Reed, Stephen K.-2012" /> If associations between a word and an image cannot be formed, it is much harder to remember and recall the word at a later point in time. While this limits the effectiveness of the dual-coding theory, it is still valid over a wide range of circumstances and can be used to improve memory.<ref name=":0Reed, Stephen K.-2012" />

==Types of codes==

'''Analogue codes''' are used to mentally represent images. Analogue codes retain the main perceptual features of whatever is being represented, so the images we form in our minds are highly similar to the physical stimuli. They are a near-exact representation of the physical stimuli we observe in our environment, such as trees and rivers.<ref name=":1Sternberg-2016" />

'''Symbolic codes''' are used to form mental representations of words. They represent something conceptually, and sometimes, arbitrarily, as opposed to perceptually. Similar to the way a watch may represent information in the form of numbers to display the time, symbolic codes represent information in our mind in the form of arbitrary symbols, like words and combinations of words, to represent several ideas. Each symbol (x, y, 1, 2, etc.) can arbitrarily represent something other than itself. For instance, the letter x is often used to represent more than just the concept of an x, the 24th letter of the alphabet. It can be used to represent a variable x in mathematics, or a multiplication symbol in an equation. Concepts like multiplication can be represented symbolically by an "x" because we arbitrarily assign it a deeper concept. Only when we use it to represent this deeper concept does the letter "x" carry this type of meaning.

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== Support ==

===Evidence from psychological research===

Many researchers have agreed that only words and images are used in mental representation.<ref name=":2Pylyshyn-1973" /> Supporting evidence shows that memory for some verbal information is enhanced if a relevant visual is also presented or if the learner can imagine a visual image to go with the verbal information. Likewise, visual information can often be enhanced when paired with relevant verbal information, whether real-world or imagined.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Anderson, John R.|title=Human Associative Memory.|date=2014|publisher=Taylor and Francis|isbn=978-1-317-76988-0|oclc=871224620}}</ref> This theory has been applied to the use of multimedia presentations. Because multimedia presentations require both spatial and verbal working memory, individuals dual code information presented and are more likely to recall the information when tested at a later date.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Brunyé|first1=Tad T.|last2=Taylor|first2=Holly A.|last3=Rapp|first3=David N.|date=2007|title=Repetition and dual coding in procedural multimedia presentations|journal=Applied Cognitive Psychology|volume=22|issue=7|pages=877–895|doi=10.1002/acp.1396|s2cid=1853751 |issn=0888-4080}}</ref> Moreover, studies that have been conducted on abstract and concrete words have also found that the participants remembered concrete words better than the abstract words.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hargis, Gickling|first=Charles H, Edward E|date=May 1978|title=The Function of Imagery in Word Recognition Development|journal=The Reading Teacher|volume=31|pages=870–874|viajstor=JSTOR}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Sadoski|first1=Mark|last2=Willson|first2=Victor L.|last3=Holcomb|first3=Angelia|last4=Boulware-Gooden|first4=Regina|date=2004|title=Verbal and Nonverbal Predictors of Spelling Performance|journal=Journal of Literacy Research|volume=36|issue=4|pages=461–478|doi=10.1207/s15548430jlr3604_2|issn=1086-296X|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite documentjournal|title=Concrete vs abstract words – what do you recall better? A study on dual coding theory|last1=Yui|first1=Lin|last2=Ng|first2=Roslin|date=2017-01-14|last3=Perera-W.A.|first3=Hiran|doi=10.7287/peerj.preprints.2719v1 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

Paivio found that participants when shown a rapid sequence of pictures as well as a rapid sequence of words and later asked to recall the words and pictures, in any order, were better at recalling images. Participants, however, more readily recalled the sequential order of the words, rather than the sequence of pictures. These results supported Paivio's hypothesis that verbal information is processed differently from visual information and that verbal information was superior to visual information when sequential order was also required for the memory task.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Paivio|first=Allan|date=1969|title=Mental imagery in associative learning and memory.|journal=Psychological Review|volume=76|issue=3|pages=241–263|doi=10.1037/h0027272|issn=0033-295X}}</ref> Lee Brooks conducted an experiment that provided additional support for two systems for memory. He had participants perform either a visual task, where they had to view a picture and answer questions about the picture, or a verbal task, where they listened to a sentence and were then asked to answer questions pertaining to the sentence. To respond to the questions, participants were asked to either respond verbally, visually, or manually. Through this experiment, Brooks found that interference occurred when a visual perception was mixed with manipulation of the visual task, and verbal responses interfere with a task involving a verbal statement to be manually manipulated. This supported the idea of two codes used to mentally represent information.<ref name=":1Sternberg-2016" />

[[Working memory]] as proposed by [[Alan Baddeley]] includes a two-part processing system with a visuospatial sketchpad and a phonological loop which essentially maps to Paivio's theory.

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Dual-coding theories complement a dual-route theory of [[Reading (activity)|reading]]. When people read written information, dual-route theory contends that the readers access [[Orthography|orthographic]] and [[Phonology|phonological]] information to recognize [[Word (linguistics)|words]] in the [[writing]].

Paivio's work has implications for literacy, visual [[mnemonics]], idea generation, [[Human Performance Technology|HPT]], human factors, interface design, as well as the development of educational materials among others. It also has implications for, and counterparts in, [[cognitive sciences]] and computational cognitive modeling (in the form of dual process cognitive models and so on; e.g.,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Anderson, John Robert.|title=Cognitive psychology and its implications : John R. Anderson.|date=2005|publisher=Worth Publishers|isbn=0-7167-0110-3|oclc=587804014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Just|first1=Marcel Adam|last2=Newman|first2=Sharlene D|last3=Keller|first3=Timothy A|last4=McEleney|first4=Alice|last5=Carpenter|first5=Patricia A|date=2004|title=Imagery in sentence comprehension: an fMRI study|journal=NeuroImage|volume=21|issue=1|pages=112–124|doi=10.1016/j.neuroimage.2003.08.042|pmid=14741648|s2cid=2912716|issn=1053-8119|url=https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/6615095}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Sun, Ron, 1960-1960–|title=Duality of the mind : a bottom-up approach toward cognition|date=2012|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-8058-3880-0|oclc=858009136}}</ref>). It also has had implications for cognitive robotics.

===Cognitive neuroscience support===

Two different methods have been used to identify the regions involved in visual perception and visual imagery. First, [[functional magnetic resonance imaging]] (fMRI) is used to measure [[cerebral blood flow]], which allows researchers to identify the amount of glucose and oxygen being consumed by a specific part of the brain, with an increase in blood flow providing a measure of brain activity. Second, an [[event-related potential]] (ERP) can be used to show the amount of electrical brain activity that is occurring due to a particular stimulus. Researchers have used both methods to determine which areas of the brain are active with different stimuli, and results have supported the dual-coding theory. Other research has been done with [[positron emission tomography]] (PET) scans and fMRI to show that participants had improved memory for spoken words and sentences when paired with an image, imagined or real. Those participants also showed an increase in brain activation that processes abstract words not easily paired with an image.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Crosson|first1=Bruce|last2=Ford|first2=Anastasia|last3=McGregor|first3=Keith M.|last4=Meinzer|first4=Marcus|last5=Cheshkov|first5=Sergey|last6=Li|first6=Xiufeng|last7=Walker-Batson|first7=Delaina|last8=Briggs|first8=Richard W.|date=2010|title=Functional imaging and related techniques: An introduction for rehabilitation researchers|journal=The Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development|volume=47|issue=2|pages=vii-xxxivvii–xxxiv|doi=10.1682/jrrd.2010.02.0017|pmid=20593321|pmc=3225087|issn=0748-7711|doi-access=free}}</ref>

==Alternative theory==