Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal 16: 259–262, 2003. 259

Book review

Imagery and text: A dual coding theory of reading and writing by MarkSadoski and Allan Paivio. 2001. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence ErlbaumAssociates, 236 pp. ISBN 0-8058-3439-7, US$24.50, paperback

The unspeakable images of September 11, 2002, that were seared into ourmemories on that tragic day bear testament to the role of visual imagery incognition. They represent more than words can say and remind us that nomatter how well written text conveys meanings, reading and writing are notexclusively verbal.

Mark Sadoski and Allan Paivio provide an academically rigorous explana-tion of a unified theory of reading and writing consistent with the dual codingtheory of cognition. Their empirically grounded text draws together, in oneeminently readable volume, evidence for the role of imagery in cognitionfrom the ancient method of loci to more recent neuropsychological research.The book is replete with examples that transform the more abstract sectionsinto a concrete, meaningful read. Thus, the text is accessible to student,theorist and researcher alike.

Although one could argue that the focus on text as written text is narrow,and that their Western-focussed treatment of ’literacy’ is narrow in compar-ison with definitions favoured by social constructionists, the text achieveswhat the title signifies: a dual coding theory of reading and writing.

Chapter two establishes an historical foundation for dual coding theoryand details the interaction of imagery and verbal processes in philos-ophy, rhetoric, literature, psychology and education. The use of the OrbisSensualium Pictus (Comenius, 1658, cited in Broudy & Palmer, 1965) thatstressed sense experience, the basis of imagery, as apposed to an alphabetapproach, provides a vivid introduction to the role of imagery in the compre-hension of text. In this chapter the authors succeed in their claim to presentand argue for dual coding theory as an overall theory of cognition in literacy.They present this theory as an alternative to artificial intelligence and schematheoretic models of cognition.

Chapter three presents a more detailed argument for the explanatory valueof dual coding theory in cognition. The basic units, organization of those units

260 BOOK REVIEW

into verbal and non-verbal codes, together with processing operations withinand between those codes are clearly and precisely described. The componentsand processes are then unified in a general model based on Paivio’s (1971,1986) seminal work, although the authors’ might have perhaps referenced toKosslyn (1994) for purposes of comparison and for a more complex model.

Chapter four fulfils the authors’ claim in the Preface to explain ‘the essen-tially human concept that is at the heart of literacy, meaning’ (ix). Thischapter describes the dual coding analysis of meaning and comprehension.Representational, referential and associative levels of meaning are presentedtogether with the dual coding view of mental models.

Chapter five deals with topics that have been central to contemporaryimagery research, memory and recall. The discussion of semantic and epis-odic memory from a dual coding perspective as they relate to literacy providesa basis for a general critique of schema theory in reading. Semantic memoryand concept formation are described as deriving from connections betweenverbal and non-verbal representations, and episodic memory explained as asequence of images of events, or an integrated image, which often includeselaborations and detail inconsistent with schema theoretic explanations.

Chapter six presents a dual coding account of the reading process. Again,the seminal research of Paivio (1971, 1986) and others on the reading ofconcrete and abstract sentences features in this chapter, together with ananalysis of the somewhat dated interactive, bottom-up and top-down modelsof the reading process. Favourable comparisons might also have been madebetween contemporary neuropsychological understandings of the readingprocess and dual coding theory.

Chapter seven presents a dual coding interpretation of the writing process.The authors describe a composing episode consistent with some understand-ings of the writing process, although the role of imagery as described would,in practice probably best apply to a writer skilled in the use of imagerythinking tools (Whitehead, 2002). Consistent with the book as a whole thischapter and the following one provide an empirical and cognitive perspectiverather than a qualitative and social constructionist perspective. The sectionin this chapter on engagement, appreciation and interest in text evoked byimagery provides for interesting reading and suggests the potential of furtherqualitative research.

Chapter eight describes the application of dual coding theory to literacyeducation. This chapter provides rich pickings for teachers and authors alike.Given that dual-coding theory has returned to centre stage I suspect researchinto dual coding consistent teaching and learning practices would feature evenmore in any subsequent edition of this volume.

BOOK REVIEW 261

The strength of this book lays in its precision, accuracy and clarity. Just asKosslyn (1994) argues for resolution in the imagery debate, this text arguesconvincingly for a resolution to the debate between schema theoretic anddual coding models of cognition. It is meticulously researched and logicallystructured – the treatment of memory and remembering in chapter five isparticularly well structured.

In writing this volume the authors have chosen to value knowledge thathas derived from empirical research. The voices of Pylyshyn (1971, 1981,1994) in respect to tacit knowledge and Kaufmann (1981, 1983) in respectto the value of imagery tests are silent. Their focus on reading and writingpoints to the need for further research in areas such as the use of visualimagery by indigenous story tellers, individual differences in imagery abilityincluding differences in subjects ability to manipulate or think with images,and classroom based research into the role of imagery in language and literacydevelopment.

Future editions will, no doubt, reflect advances in neuropsychology thatserve to substantiate dual coding theory. It was a little surprising thatthe contributions of Farah, Hammond, Levine and Calvanio (1988) and ofKosslyn, Thompson, Kim and Alpert (1995) did not warrant a mention, andthat the majority of the references in this area are to ERP type studies. Afurther area that might have warranted critical comment is the methodologyused by some researchers quoted in the text – and specifically their failure tospecify individual differences in imagery ability in control and experimentalgroups. As an extreme example, how valid might researchers conclusions beif all their experimental groups were good imagers and all their controls werepoor imagers?

Imagery and text is a welcome addition to the field of education andpsychology. It will, no doubt find a place as a set text for these courses.

References

Broudy, H.S. & Palmer, J.R. (1965). Exemplars of teaching method. Chicago: Rand McNally.Farah, M.J. (1988). Is visual imagery really visual? Overlooked evidence from neuropsycho-

logy. Psychological Review 95, 307–317.Farah, M.J., Hammond, K.M., Levine, D.N. & Calvanio, R. (1988). Visual and spatial mental

imagery: Dissociable systems of representation. Cognitive Psychology 20, 439–462.Kaufmann, G. (1981). What is wrong with imagery questionnaires? Scandinavian Journal of

Psychology 22, 59–64.Kaufmann, G. (1983). Short note: How good are imagery questionnaires? A rejoinder to David

Marks. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 24, 247–249.Kosslyn S.M. (1994). Image and brain: The resolution of the imagery debate. Cambridge,

Massachusetts: MIT Press.

262 BOOK REVIEW

Kosslyn, S.M., Thompson, W.L., Kim, I.J. & Alpert, N.M. (1995). Topographical representa-tion of mental images in primary visual cortex. Nature 378, 496–498.

Paivio, A. (1971). Imagery and verbal processes. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.Paivio, A. (1986). Mental Representations: A dual coding approach. New York: Oxford

University Press.Pylyshyn, Z.W. (1973). What the mind’s eye tells the mind’s brain: A critique of mental

imagery. Psychological Bulletin 80, 1–25.Pylyshyn, Z.W. (1981). The imagery debate: Analogue media versus tacit knowledge.

Psychological Review 88, 16–45.Pylyshyn, Z.W. (1994). Mental images on the brain. [Review of the book Image and brain:

The resolution of the imagery debate, by Stephen M. Kosslyn.] Nature 372, 289–290.Whitehead, D. (2002). Top tools for literacy and learning. Auckland, New Zealand: Pearson

Education.

David WhiteheadUniversity of WaikatoHamiltonNew Zealand