Dual-coding theory: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 23:54, 7 June 2023

Revision as of 23:54, 7 June 2023

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{{Short description|Theory of cognition}}

[[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 visual. 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 images aids learning through the [[picture superiority effect]].<ref name=":0Reed, Stephen K.-2012">{{Cite book|last=Reed, Stephen K.|title=Cognition : theories and applications|date=12 April 2012|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 imagery. Dual-coding theory postulates that both sensory imagery and verbal [[information]] is used to represent information.<ref>{{Citation |last1=Sadoski |first1=Mark |title=A Dual Coding Theoretical Model of Reading |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1598/0872075028.47 |work=Theoretical Models and Processes of Reading |pages=1329–1362 |place=DE |publisher=International Reading Association |access-date=2022-04-23 |last2=Paivio |first2=Allan|doi=10.1598/0872075028.47 }}</ref><ref name=":1Sternberg-2016">{{Cite book|last=Sternberg |first=Robert J |title=Cognitive psychology|date=January 2016|isbn=978-1-305-64465-6|oclc=1037299606}}</ref> Imagery 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 imagery 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=":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|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|via=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 journal|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}}</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.