Representation of images in sentence verification

Five reaction time sentence verification experiments were conducted in order to (1) investigate the source of interference between reading and visual imagery, (2) identify the sensory properties of the representation that are common to both reading and visual imagination, and (3) determine whether reading interferes with visual imagery during initial sentence comprehension or during subsequent sentence verification. Experiment 1 demonstrated that a visual representation, common to both reading and visual images, was the source of the interference observed. Experiments 2 and 3 demonstrated that reading interferes with the spatial-like characteristics of a visual image. And finally, Experiments 4 and 5 offered evidence that imagery is not used in the initial determination of sentence meaning (comprehension). Together, the research presented offers evidence that the fundamental structure of many images is visuospatial, and that a visuospatial representation plays an overt role in the verification of many sentences.