The role of working memory in spatial text processing: What benefit of imagery strategy and visuospatial abilities?

This study investigated the construction of a spatial model in relation to working memory (WM) and visuospatial abilities. Participants were trained to use either imagery or verbal strategies to process route spatial texts. Results obtained on a free recall task, a verification test and a graphic representation task showed the beneficial effect of using a strategy based on mental images. When imagery strategies were used, a concurrent articulatory task produced interference effects on recall performance, and a spatial tapping task also impaired performance as compared to the control condition. These interference effects suggest that both visuospatial and verbal WM were involved in construction of the spatial model. When repetition strategies were used, however, only the articulatory task produced interference effects, highlighting the role of the verbal WM. To elucidate how the involvement of the visuospatial component may differ in relation to visuospatial abilities, participants with good or poor ability in generation of visual images and spatial manipulation of objects were compared. The benefit of the imagery strategy was found in both groups, but whereas low-visuospatial imagery participants were sensitive to spatial interference, their high ability counterparts were not. These results question the role of imagery processes in the construction of spatial models and their relation to the visuospatial WM.