Generation and retrieval of general, specific and autobiographic images representing concrete nouns

Four experiments with 101 university and high school students (aged 17–30 yrs) confirmed introspective evidence for the distinction between general (GE), specific (SP), and autobiographical (AG) images concerning the specificity of image contents. Ss were able to classify each type of evoked image and to evoke these kinds of images on request. When given generic instructions to form images, GE images were the most common result. Differences existed between the kind of images and the times necessary to evoke, study, and reactivate them. SP images were rated as the most vivid, while AG images were the best recalled. Data suggest great variability in imaginal processes activated from the same concept in different situations