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Key study: Carmichael, Hogan and Walter (1932)

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Carmichael, Hogan and Walter (1932), 'An Experimental Study of the Effect of Language on the Reproduction of Visually Perceived Form', tested whether a word can change what we remember seeing.

Aim and procedure

Aim: to see whether a verbal label given with a picture changes how the picture is later reproduced (drawn from memory).
Participants: 95 people (college students and staff).
Procedure: participants saw 12 ambiguous line drawings. Each figure had two possible names. For example, two circles joined by a line was called 'eye glasses' for one group and 'dumbbells' for another.
Group 1 heard word list 1, group 2 heard word list 2, and a small control group saw the figures with no names. The experimenter said 'The next figure resembles...' before each one. Afterwards participants drew the figures from memory, repeating until all were reproduced.

Results and conclusion

Over 3,000 drawings were rated on a 5-point scale from almost perfect (1) to completely changed (5).
Of the drawings that were completely changed, about 74% (list 1) and 73% (list 2) looked like the named object, compared with about 45% for the control group.
Conclusion: naming a figure just before seeing it can change how it is remembered and reproduced. Language affects perception and memory, which supports Gregory's top-down theory and the idea of perceptual set (expectation).

Evaluation

Strengths: it was a controlled experiment with standardised instructions and a control group, so it can be replicated. Drawings were scored on a clear rating scale. It has a useful application: eyewitnesses may be influenced by the words used to describe what they saw.
Weaknesses: the figures were simple, artificial line drawings, so it lacks ecological validity. It is unclear whether the label changed perception at the time or only memory later. Rating drawings involves some judgement, so scoring could be subjective. The control group was very small.
Worked example

A participant is told a figure 'resembles a crescent moon' and later draws a moon shape. Explain this using the study's conclusion.

  1. The label created an expectation (prior knowledge) of a moon.
  2. When drawing from memory, the reproduction was changed to fit the label.

Answer: The verbal label shaped how the figure was perceived and remembered, so the drawing looked more like the named object.

Key idea

Carmichael, Hogan and Walter (1932) showed 12 ambiguous figures with different labels. Drawings from memory tended to look like the named object (about 74% and 73% of completely changed drawings, versus 45% in the control). Language affects how we perceive and remember, supporting top-down theory.

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