Content area
Full Text
Past literature shows a very controversial history associated with the bizarreness effect; studies contradict each other on whether bizarreness actually results in any significant human memory benefit. The current study used a 2 x 2 (instruction group x word type) mixed-subject design in order to determine whether the type of instructions given prior to a task has any effect on memory. Participants from Valdosta State University were asked to create either a bizarre or common interacting image based on a given word pair. All results were inconsistent with the hypothesis that participants in the bizarre instruction group would recall more words than those in the common instruction group.
For centuries, different methods have been used in an attempt to enhance memory (Yates, 1966). Techniques such as visual aids, mnemonic devices, and visualization methods have been thought to facilitate memory. One proposed approach to aid memory is the bizarreness effect (Andreoff & Yarmey, 1976; Fritsch & Larsen, 1990; Wollen, Weber, & Lowry, 1972). This method involves the use of unusual visual imagery to encode information. Over the years, researchers have tried to support this approach with various studies involving different methods of incorporating bizarre imagery.
In order to determine the effectiveness of bizarreness on memory, many different procedures have been used. Some experiments manipulated how sentences embedded with words in either a common or bizarre way are presented (Macklin & McDaniel, 2005; McDaniel, Einstein, DeLosh, May, & Brady, 1995; Toyota, 2002). Others used the presentation of pictures considered to be bizarre or common (Wollen et al., 1972). Another way of examining the bizarreness effect is to use word-pair associations. Results using these different procedures for examining the effect of bizarre stimuli have been inconsistent (Einstein & McDaniel, 1987). Some researchers have found bizarreness to have a positive effect on memory (Andreoff & Yarmey, 1976; Merry, 1980; Pra Baldi, de Beni, Cornoldi, & Cavedon, 1985), while others have concluded that it has no important significant effect (Fritsch & Larsen, 1990).
One aspect of such research focuses on whether the images formed are vivid and interacting. Wollen et al., (1972) stated that bizarreness may not have been correctly manipulated in previous research because of the difficulty creating common or bizarre images from word-pairs. They attempted to independently...