Allan Paivio

A Canadian psychologist whose theory of verbal and imaginal coding became highly influential in memory and learning research.

• Signature vocabulary: dual coding, imagery, memory, language.
• Worldview: Thought often operates through partly distinct verbal and imaginal systems that can reinforce one another in memory and learning.
• Likely reading of common emotional problems: He would ask how imagery and verbal coding interact in recall, meaning, and mental representation.
• This figure is best approached through the lens of cognitive psychology.

Imaginative yet systematic, moving easily between verbal explanation and mental imagery as complementary ways of thinking.

• dual coding
• imagery
• verbal representation
• memory enhancement through multiple codes
• interpretation and appraisal
• schemas and constructs
• memory and attention
• patterned thinking
• memory
• language

• people differ widely in imagery vividness and preferred representational habits
• dual coding is powerful for memory and learning, but it does not explain every kind of reasoning

• Can you say it in words and also see it in an image?
• When both codes are available, recall often becomes stronger.
• If the verbal account feels thin, the image may tell us something the words omit.

• Imagery and Verbal Processes
• Mental Representations
• Dual coding theory papers