Thinking in Pictures or Words : How Thinking Style Influences Memory

The concept of verbal and visual learners has been around for a while, but what does it mean, and is there any truth behind the claims? Many studies have found differences between groups of the two modalities, supporting the fact that most people possess a tendency to use one modality over the other when processing information. The research has been more divided concerning a connection to not only tendency and preference, but also learning and performance. The present study sought to examine the connection between thinking style and memory performance while also examining the role of memory strategies as a mediator. This was done by classifying 31 participants by thinking style, then examining how well they performed on verbal and visual memory tests, lastly investigating the thought process used after the tests. The results showed that visual thinkers performed better on the visual memory test than verbal thinkers while no relation was found to the verbal memory test. This indicates a difference in processing and complexity between the modalities with the possibility of visual thinkers being further divided by spatial ability. Thinking style did not influence choice of memory strategy, but verbal strategies were shown to be more effective on the verbal memory test than visual memory strategies while no relation was found to the visual memory test.