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Why do words hurt? Content, process, and criterion shift accounts of verbal overshadowing
Abstract
Verbal overshadowing describes the phenomenon in which verbalisation negatively affects performance on a task related to the verbalised material. Within the verbal overshadowing literature, three accounts exist which attempt to explain this phenomenon: content, processing, and criterion accounts. The content account refers to the notion that the specific contents of verbalisation interfere with later performance, processing refers to a proposed shift in processing caused by verbalisation, and criterion deals with the possibility that verbalisation leads to a reliance on more conservative choosing. The current manuscript reviews evidence for the existing accounts, while describing advantages and disadvantages of each account and attempting to reconcile these various accounts. The authors provide a framework for understanding verbal overshadowing as caused by one unified mechanism, or several. Finally, an outline for future research is suggested that should aid in reconciling the existing accounts for verbal overshadowing.
... 1. the enthusiasts; who assert that the effect of language in conceptualization is general, vast and deep (Kousta et al. 2008;Evans 2009;Qu & Miwa 2022). 2. the moderates; who argue that the effect is local, transient, shallow and easily revisable (Chin and Schooler 2008;Landau et al. 2010;Blomberg & Zlatev 2021). 3. the skeptics; who maintain that there is no proper effect of language on conceptualization, although there may be some cognitive impacts of language on many conceptual tasks, one way or another (Carruthers 2011;Li et al. 2011). ...
The paper investigates the extent to which language and worldview interact in the conceptualization of novel concepts in six (6) languages of Nasarawa State using linguistic relativity hypothesis. Data for the study were generated from a checklist containing forty-five (45) novel concepts. The methods of data analysis were both descriptive and comparative. The results show that speakers of the languages express the novel concepts as nominal compounds, descriptive noun phrases, genitive constructions and ideophones. Four major conceptualization strategies: description, compounding, transliteration, and imitation were found to account for the conceptualization of the novel terms in concert with the respective worldviews of the speakers of the languages. The findings support the view that conceptual differences indicating differences in worldview occur across the languages. The results of the study support the middle course proposal of the moderates, who argue that the effect of the interaction between language and worldview is local, transient, and shallow; not total or sacrosanct. Apart from fostering a better understanding of the relationship between language and worldview of the respective linguistic communities, and revealing the subconscious attitudes of the speakers, the study would form part of the efforts to document and describe endangered languages. And by this, the study can be said to be potentially transformative as it could be reproduced in other Nigerian languages.
... Ultimately, the use of any language to describe aspects of mental illness might be off-putting for some (56). In fact, the shift to verbal reasoning may undermine insight (124). This idea relates to the importance of non-verbal languaging (125) and staying silent when there are no words to capture the experience of illness (126). ...
Explanatory models of the mind inform our working assumptions about mental illness with direct implications for clinical practice. Neurobiological models assert that the mind can be understood in terms of genetics, chemistry, and neuronal circuits. Growing evidence suggests that clinical deployment of neurobiological models of illness may have unintended adverse effects on patient attitudes, public perception, provider empathy, and the effectiveness of psychiatric treatment. New approaches are needed to find a better language for describing (let alone explaining) the experience of mental illness. To address this gap, we draw upon interdisciplinary sources and semiotic theory to characterize the role of metaphor in the conceptualization and communication of psychopathology. We examine the metaphors recruited by contemporary neurobiological models and metaphor’s role in facilitating descriptive clarity or evocative creativity, depending on intention and context. These multiple roles reveal the implications of metaphorical reasoning in clinical practice, including cognitive flexibility, personalized communication, and uncertainty tolerance. With this analysis, we propose a clinical approach that embraces the meta-process of ongoing novel metaphor generation and co-elaboration, or languaging metaphors of psychopathology. Our goal is to bring attention to the value of employing ever-evolving, shapeable metaphorical depictions of psychiatric illness: metaphors that enable a capacity for change in individuals and society, reduce stigma, and nurture recovery.
... Over time, various hypotheses for the VOE have been proposed, which can be summarised into three categories: content-based, processbased and criterion-based accounts (Chin & Schooler, 2008;Schooler, Fiore, & Brandimonte, 1997). Initially, the observation of the VOE led to the assumption that the verbal description of the target stimulus creates a new, verbally biased memory, which then interferes with the more detailed visual memory during recognition (= recoding interference hypothesis, Schooler & Engstler-Schooler, 1990). ...
... For all ages, mixing costs were substantially reduced under task-relevant verbalization and increased under task-irrelevant verbalization (compared to baseline). Interestingly, the benefit of task-relevant 2 Interestingly, the improvements to working memory as a result of labeling out loud are opposite to another known effect, referred to as "overshadowing", in which describing an object out loud (for example, the bouquet of a wine) can hinder recognition memory for that object, especially if one possesses expertise in that domain (for example, a wine expert), see Chin and Schooler (2008) for review. The topic of overshadowing is outside the scope of this study, and will not be discussed further here. ...
This study used a card-matching game that relies on visual-spatial working memory to investigate whether the amount one talks out loud to themselves (referred to as private speech) predicts cognitive performance in young adults (n = 118, mean age = 20.13 years). Each participant's performance was measured in two "Private Speech" trials, in which they were instructed to complete the game efficiently, while using private speech as much as they can. Using multilevel modeling, we found that participants performed significantly better on trials for which they produced more private speech. This relationship was not moderated by baseline competency on the task (measured in a condition where participants were not instructed to use, and rarely ever used, private speech). The study shows that the degree to which adults use private speech - when instructed to do so, is associated with cognitive performance, which may have important implications for educational/instructional settings.
... These processes are often unintentional and seem to occur unconsciously (Frensch & Rünger, 2003). Verbal reasoning about the visual representations is not necessary and can even impede students' perceptual learning (Chin & Schooler, 2008;Kellman et al., 2010;Schooler et al., 1997). Rather, students induce patterns through exposure to many examples (Kellman & Massey, 2013;Rau, 2017). ...
Combinations of perceptual fluency and sense-making competencies contribute synergistically to learning gains in undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education. However, instructional principles depend on the target of instruction, and in many fields, the targets of instruction are quite different from undergraduate STEM education. Professional learning often involves the application of previously acquired conceptual knowledge in a perceptually complex reality. This paper focuses on the field of surgery, specifically the recognition of surgical anatomy, in which the target of instruction is perceptual ability rather than conceptual knowledge. We conducted two experiments in which 42 and 44 surgical trainees participated in perceptual-fluency and sense-making interventions, followed by tests of their ability to recognize surgical anatomy in real operative images. The results showed that perceptual-fluency interventions contributed to gains in perceptual knowledge relating to surgical anatomy, whereas sense-making interventions did not. We discuss our findings in terms of alignment between instructional design and instructional goals, and the application of advances in learning sciences to adult learning of complex skills.
Background
Visual representations are pervasive in electrical engineering instruction in various instructional settings. Further, electrical engineering instruction often requires students to extend simple visual representations to learn about more complex visualization in subsequent instruction. Yet, students often struggle to understand visualizations. An open question is whether supporting students' understanding of visual representations enhances their subsequent learning. We investigate this question in both individual and collaborative learning settings.
Purpose
We investigated the impact of support for students' understanding of simple visual representations on students' learning of subsequently presented complex visual representations. Further, we investigated whether students' level of mental rotation skills moderates the impact of such instructional support.
Method
Two experiments tested the impact of instructional support for visual representations in an individual or a collaborative learning setting. Students were randomly assigned to receive different versions of instructional support, or none.
Results
Study 1 was conducted in an individual learning setting. While students with high mental rotation skills benefited from the instructional support, students with low mental rotation skills did not benefit. Study 2 was conducted in a collaborative learning setting. Here, all students benefited equally from the support.
Conclusions
Our findings suggest that instructional support for simple visual representations can enhance students' subsequent learning with complex visual representations. Further, our findings suggest that a collaborative learning setting may be particularly beneficial to students with low mental rotation skills. This study contributes to an understanding of instructional environments that can improve learning with visual representations in engineering education.
Our cognitive processing is flexible and affected by global/local dominance in prior cognitive tasks. Similar to cognitive processing, perceptual processing, especially colour perception related to global/local processing, may be affected by prior global/local dominance; however, this possibility has not yet been assessed. Here, we examined whether prior tasks involving global/local processing influenced colour perception related to global/local processing. As colour perception is related to global/local processing, we focused on perceived colour transparency, in which a transparent layer is perceived in front of a background layer, even though these stimuli are physically in the same layer. When viewing the colour transparency stimulus, we expected that the perceived colour of a specific region, when focusing on only the local region, would differ from that when focusing on the whole image. In our study, the participants completed a global or local Navon task, followed by a colour-matching task that assessed how they saw colours using colour transparency stimuli. The degree of optical illusion (i.e., perceived colour transparency) after the global Navon task was greater than that after the local Navon task. Thus, prior global/local processing, a flexible mode of cognitive processing, influenced colour perception. This study provides new insight into perceptual flexibility, especially in colour perception.
The contents of awareness can substantially change without any modification to the external world. Such effects are exemplified in binocular rivalry, where a different stimulus is presented to each eye causing instability in perception. This phenomenon has made binocular rivalry a quintessential method for studying consciousness and the necessary neural correlates for awareness. However, to conduct research on binocular rivalry usually requires self-reports of changes in percept, which can produce confounds and exclude states and contexts where self-reports are undesirable or unreliable. Here, we use a novel multivariate spatial filter dubbed ‘Rhythmic Entrainment Source Separation’ to extract steady state visual evoked potentials from electroencephalography data. We show that this method can be used to quantify the perceptual switch-rate of participants during binocular rivalry and therefore may be valuable in experimental contexts where self-reports are methodologically problematic or impossible, particularly as an adjunct. Our analyses also reveal that ‘no-report’ conditions may affect the deployment of attention and thereby neural correlates, another important consideration for consciousness research.
The aim of this pilot study was to examine the
impact of challenge cards used within canoe slalom.
The rationale behind the creation and introduction
of this resource was to consider how a non-linear
approach to coaching could enhance practice design
and the learning environment.
A sample group of five experienced coaches was
employed full-time in either a coaching or coach
developer role with a broad responsibility spanning
paddlers and coaches working with beginners to
those working with Olympic athletes.
Findings indicated the cards showed the potential to
enhance creativity, communication, empowerment
and learning.
Keywords
Creativity, empowerment, learning, purpose,
reflection
The Western assumption that talking is connected to thinking is not shared in the East. The research examines how the actual psychology of individuals reflects these different cultural assumptions. In Study 1, Asian Americans and European Americans thought aloud while solving reasoning problems. Talking impaired Asian Americans' performance but not that of European Americans. Study 2 showed that participants' beliefs about talking and thinking are correlated with how talking affects performance, and suggested that cultural difference in modes of thinking can explain the difference in the effect of talking. Study 3 showed that talking impaired Asian Americans' performance because they tend to use internal speech less than European Americans. Results illuminate the importance of cultural understanding of psychology for a multicultural society.
Among the numerous topics that have recently been investigated in the psychology of eyewitness testimony (cf. Lilli, this volume; Loftus, 1979; Wippich, this volume; Yarmey, 1979), the question of person identification has received particular attention (for reviews, see Clifford & Bull, 1978; Ellis, 1984; Penrod, Loftus, & Winkler, 1982; Shapiro & Penrod, 1986; Shepherd, Ellis, & Davies, 1982; Sporer, 1983 a, 1983 b, 1984b). In person identification, a witness (either victim or bystander) of a crime is asked by the police to identify “the one who did it” in a live lineup or in a photospread of mugshots. Motivated by the repeated occurrence of cases of mistaken identification, researchers have attempted to explore the conditions that are likely to influence the accuracy of an identification as well as ways to reduce the possibility of error (so-called estimator and system variables, respectively: Wells, 1978).
An assumption of many theories of visual cognition is that imagery tasks and picture recognition tasks tap the same kind of memory processes (i.e. visual), implying that these two types of tests can be used as interchangeable measures of visual memory. In this paper, we investigated whether articulatory suppression - a variable known to improve imagery performance - has a similar effect on picture recognition performance. In Experiment 1, subjects performed either an imagery task or a recognition task while engaging or not in articulatory suppression; in Experiment 2, the same subjects performed first the imagery task, and then the recognition task, while engaging or not in articulatory suppression. When the type of task was manipulated between subjects (Experiment 1), imagery performance was significantly improved by articulatory suppression. In contrast, recognition performance was significantly impaired by the introduction of articulatory suppression. In accordance with results of Experiment 1, in Experiment 2 imagery and recognition performance were found to be unrelated. However, when the same subjects performed both tasks, the opposite effect of articulatory suppression on imagery vs recognition performance was observed only on the first item. It does appear that when the imagery task and the picture recognition task are performed in isolation, performance is found to be independent, suggesting that the two tasks are mediated by different mechanisms. However, when a within-subjects design is used, performance in one task can be contaminated by the presence of the other task.
The question of whether perception is analytic or wholistic is an enduring issue in psychology. The global-precedence hypothesis, considered by many as a modern version of the Gestaltist claim about the perceptual primacy of wholes, has generated a large body of research, but the debate still remains very active. This article reviews the research within the global/local paradigm and critically analyzes the assumptions underlyling this paradigm. The extent to which this line of research contributes to understanding the role of wholistic processing on object perception is discussed. It is concluded that one should be very cautious in making inferences about wholistic processing from the processing advantage of the global level of stimulus structure. A distinction is proposed between global properties, defined by their position in the hierarchical structure of the stimulus, and wholistic properties, defined as a function of interrelations among component parts. It is suggested that a direct comparison between processing of wholistic and component properties is needed to support the hypothesis about the perceptual primacy of wholistic processing.
Previous research has found some forms of post-event activity, such as working with a sketch artist or viewing mugshots, to negatively affect the subsequent identification performance of an eyewitness. The present experiment examined potential carryover effects of forming an Identi-kit composite and writing a verbal description on the identification of an assailant from a photoarray. Both interventions were compared to a no-treatment (control) condition. Forming an Identi-kit composite increased witness sensitivity, causing subjects to be less likely to select any photo. In contrast, writing a description increased the likelihood that subjects identified the photo of the assailant. Neither intervention affected the likelihood of misidentification. Alternative theoretical explanations for the results and implications for field procedures are explored.
The verbal overshadowing effect is the phenomenon in which describing a previously seen face impairs its recognition (Schooler and Engstler-Schooler, 1990). The primary purpose of this research was to investigate how the similarity between a target and distractors influences verbal overshadowing. In order to manipulate test-set similarity, we blended the faces of different people by using morphing techniques. As a result, verbal overshadowing was found when test-set similarity was relatively high, while the effect was not evident when there was a lesser degree of similarity. The results suggest that replicating the emergence of the verbal overshadowing effect depends on test-set similarity. The implications of these findings for research and practice are discussed. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
