Citations for the Research Article

Written By theodore shachtman

Supporting Research for the 17 Foundational Principles

The following citations provide the research basis for each of the 18 principles underpinning the Mental Atlas Method

Section 1: Crafting the Icons — Building a Rich and Enduring Mental Landscape

1. Visualizing and Verbalizing (V/V): Turning Ideas into Rich Mental Pictures

Paivio, A. (1990). Dual coding theory. In Mental representations: A dual coding approach (pp. 53–83). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195066661.003.0004

Paivio, A. (1991). Dual coding theory: Retrospect and current status. Canadian Journal of Psychology/Revue canadienne de psychologie, 45(3), 255–287.1 https://doi.org/10.1037/h0084295

Clark, J. M., & Paivio, A. (1991). Dual coding theory and education. Educational Psychology Review, 3(3), 149–210. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf01320076

2. Abstract Property Indexing for Visual Anchors

Barsalou, L. W. (2008). Grounded cognition. Annual Review of Psychology, 59, 617–645. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.59.103006.0936392

Friedrich, J., Tanner, C. D., & Spivey, M. J. (2025). Grounded cognition and the representation of momentum: Abstract concepts modulate mislocalization. Psychological Research, 89, 51–71. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-024-01990-x (Note: Publication year is 2025 as per snippet)

American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Symbol grounding. In APA Dictionary of Psychology. Retrieved March 28, 2025, from https://dictionary.apa.org/symbol-grounding (Note: Retrieval date is illustrative)

3. 3D Models Aid Complex System Comprehension

Paivio, A. (1971). Imagery and verbal processes. Holt, Rinehart and Winston. (As cited by APA Dictionary and Wikipedia )

Kewenig, V. N., Vigliocco, G., & Skipper, J. I. (2024). When abstract becomes concrete, naturalistic encoding of concepts in the brain. eLife, 13, RP91522. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.91522.3

Bower, G. H. (1970). Analysis of a mnemonic device. American Scientist, 58(5), 496–510. (Focuses on imagery mnemonics for concrete, but principles apply to elaboration)

4. Method of Loci and Exceptional Visual Memory

Proulx, M. J., Todorov, O. S., Taylor Aiken, A., & de Sousa, A. A. (2016). Where am I? Who am I? The Relation Between Spatial Cognition, Social Cognition and Individual Differences3 in the Built Environment. Frontiers in Psychology, 7,4 64. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00064

Fernandez‐Baizan, C., Nuñez, P., Arias, J. L., & Mendez, M. (2020). Egocentric and allocentric spatial memory in typically developed children: Is spatial memory associated with visuospatial skills, behavior, and cortisol?5 Brain and Behavior, 10(5), e01532. https://doi.org/10.1002/brb3.1532

Burgess, N. (2008). Spatial cognition and the brain. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1124(1), 77–97. https://doi.org/10.1196/annals.1440.002

5. Spaced Practice Reinforces Concepts

Markman, A. B., & Gentner, D. (1993). Structural alignment in similarity and difference judgments. Cognitive Psychology, 25(4), 517–535. (Note: The previous citation for JML is likely more accurate for “Splitting the Differences”)

Kozhevnikov, M., Hegarty, M., & Mayer, R. E. (2002). Revising the visualizer-verbalizer dimension: Evidence for two types of visualizers. Cognition6 and Instruction, 20(1), 47–77. https://doi.org/10.1207/S1532690XCI2001_3

Hegarty, M. (2004). Mechanical reasoning by mental simulation. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 8(6), 280–285. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2004.04.001

Section 2: Navigating the Space — Effortless Exploration and Attention

6. Cost of Switching Between Visual Contexts

Gentner, D., & Holyoak, K. J. (1997). Reasoning and learning by analogy: Introduction. American Psychologist, 52(1), 32–34. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.52.1.32

Gentner, D., & Loewenstein, J. (2003). Learning: Analogical Reasoning. In J. W. Guthrie (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Education (2nd ed., Vol. 4, pp. 1375–1379). Macmillan Reference USA.

Markman, A. B., & Gentner, D. (1993). Splitting the differences: A structural alignment view of similarity. Journal of Memory and Language, 32(4), 517–535.7 https://doi.org/10.1006/jmla.1993.1027

7. Rapid Searching Within Mental Spaces: Instantly Shifting Your Attention

Beckerson, M., Paisley, C., Murdaugh, D., Holm, H., Lemelman, A., Spencer, A., O’Kelley, S., & Kana, R. (2024). Reading comprehension improvement in autism. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 15, 1292018. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1292018

Bell, N. (2008). Visualizing and Verbalizing: For language comprehension and thinking (2nd ed.). Gander Publishing.

Paivio, A. (2010). Dual coding theory and the mental lexicon. The Mental Lexicon, 5(2), 205–230. https://doi.org/10.1075/ml.5.2.04pai

8. Development of Allocentric Views

Cleary, A. M., McNeely-White, K. L., Neisser, J., Drane, D. L., Liégeois-Chauvel, C., & Pedersen, N. P. (2025). Does familiarity-detection flip attention inward? The familiarity-flip-of-attention account of the primacy effect in memory for repetitions. Memory & Cognition. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-024-01673-x

Gresch, D., Boettcher, S. E. P., Gohil, C., van Ede, F., & Nobre, A. C. (2024). Neural dynamics of shifting attention between perception and working-memory contents. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 121(47), e2406061121. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2406061121

Posner, M. I. (2008). Measuring alertness. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1129(1), 193–199. https://doi.org/10.1196/annals.1417.011

9. Parallel Search in Visualized Mental Spaces

Paivio, A., & Begg, I. (1974). Pictures and words in visual search. Memory & Cognition, 2(3), 515–521. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03209204

Wolfe, J. M. (2021). Guided Search 6.0: An updated model of visual search. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 28(4), 1060–1092. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-020-01859-9 (Note: Snippets refer to Guided Search theory; this is a recent comprehensive update by Wolfe)

Bahle, B., Beck, V. M., & Hollingworth, A. (2019). The architecture of working memory: Features from multiple remembered objects produce parallel, coactive guidance of8 attention in visual search. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General,9 148(10), 1826–1847. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000582

Section 3: The Retrieval Engine — How Thoughts Instantly Summon Meaningful Icons

10. Semantic-Visual Linkage and Retrieval

Bahle, B., Kershner, A. M., & Hollingworth, A. (2021). Categorical cuing: Object categories structure the acquisition of statistical regularities to guide visual search. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 47(10), 1366–1382. https://doi.org/10.1037/xhp0000959

van den Berg, B., & Krebs, A. M. (2024). Category-based attention facilitates memory search. The Journal of Neuroscience, 44(6), e1608232023. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1608-23.2023

Chun, M. M., & Jiang, Y. (1998). Contextual cueing: Implicit learning and memory of visual context guides spatial attention. Cognitive Psychology, 36(1), 28–71. https://doi.org/10.1006/cogp.1998.0681

11. The Categorical Search Efficiency Principle

Ondřej, J., & Kinterová, S. (2024, October 22). The Method of Loci: A Systematic Review of Empirical Research in Psychological Context. OSF. Retrieved March 28, 2025, from osf.io/9ryx3 (Note: Retrieval date is illustrative)

Kewenig, V. N., Vigliocco, G., & Skipper, J. I. (2024). When abstract becomes concrete, naturalistic encoding of concepts in the brain. eLife, 13, RP91522. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.91522.3

Uttal, D. H., O’Doherty, K., Newland, R., Hand, L. L., & DeLoache, J. (2009). Dual representation and the linking of concrete and symbolic representations.10 Child Development Perspectives, 3(3), 156–159. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1750-8606.2009.00097.x

12. Coherent Visual Fields as Cognitive Categories

Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K. A., Marsh, E. J., Nathan, M. J., & Willingham, D. T. (2013). Improving students’ learning with effective learning techniques: Promising directions from cognitive and educational psychology. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1), 4–58. https://doi.org/10.1177/152910061245326611

Cepeda, N. J., Pashler, H., Vul, E., Wixted, J. T., & Rohrer, D. (2006). Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks: A review and quantitative synthesis.12 Psychological Bulletin, 132(3), 354–380. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.132.3.35413

Smolen, P., Zhang, Y., & Byrne, J. H. (2016). The right time to learn: Mechanisms and optimization of spaced learning. Nature Reviews Neuroscience,14 17(2), 77–88. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn.2015.18

13. Dual Visual Memory Retrieval Pathways: Spatial Navigation vs. Content-Addressable Retrieval

Arnold, A. E., Iaria, G., & Ekstrom, A. D. (2023). Human spatial navigation: A brief review of its neural underpinnings and a discussion of its relationship to memory. Neuron, 111(7), 1037–1049. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2023.03.001

Kroneisen, M. (2020). Individual differences in object and spatial imagery in the method of loci (Publication №28023988). ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global.

Leshrach, S., St-Yves, G., & Polyn, S. M. (2020). Visual and semantic representations predict subsequent memory for objects. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 32(10), 1937–1955. https://doi.org/10.1162/jocn_a_01607

Maguire, E. A., Frackowiak, R. S. J., & Frith, C. D. (1997). Recalling routes around London: Activation of the right hippocampus in taxi drivers. Journal of Neuroscience,15 17(18), 7103–7110. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.17-18-07103.1997

Moscovitch, M., Rosenbaum, R. S., Gilboa, A., Addis, D. R., Westmacott, R., Grady, C., McAndrews, M. P., Levine, B., Black, S., Winocur, G., & Nadel, L. (2005). Functional neuroanatomy of remote episodic, semantic and spatialmemory:16 A unified account based on multiple trace theory.17 Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 15(2), 142–150. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conb.2005.03.006

Nyberg, L., McIntosh, A. R., Cabeza, R., Habib, R., Houle, S., & Tulving, E. (1996). General and specific brain regions involved in encoding and retrieval of events: What, where, and when.18 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,19 93(20), 11280–11285. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.93.20.11280

Wagner, I. C., Konrad, B. N., Schuster, P., Weisig, S., Repantis, D., Ohla, K., Kühn, S., & Axmacher, N. (2021). Mnemonic training reshapes brain networks to support superior memory. Science Advances, 7(10), eabe3695. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abe3695

Section 4: Unlocking Deeper Understanding — Enhanced Reasoning, Learning, and Insight

14. Enhanced Analogical Reasoning through Side‑by‑Side Visualization

Rogers, R. D., & Monsell, S. (1995). Costs of a predictable switch between simple cognitive tasks. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 124(2),20 207–231. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.124.2.207

Liefooghe, B., Barrouillet, P., Vandierendonck, A., & Camos, V. (2008). Working memory costs of task switching. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 34(3), 478–494.21 https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.34.3.478

Rubinstein, J. S., Meyer, D. E., & Evans, J. E. (2001). Executive control of cognitive processes in task switching. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 27(4),22 763–797. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-1523.27.4.763

15. Analogical Reasoning as Central to Learning Transfer

O’Keefe, J., & Nadel, L. (1978). The hippocampus as a cognitive map. Oxford University Press.

Maguire, E. A., Gadian, D. G., Johnsrude, I. S., Good, C. D., Ashburner, J., Frackowiak, R. S. J., & Frith, C. D. (2000). Navigation-related structural change in the hippocampi of taxi drivers.23 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 97(8), 4398–4403.24 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.070039597

Maguire, E. A., Nannery, R., & Spiers, H. J. (2006). Navigation around London by a taxi driver with bilateral hippocampal lesions. Brain,25 129(11), 2894–2907. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awl286

16. Strategy Selection via Pattern Matching

Anderson, J. R. (1993). Rules of the mind. Erlbaum.

Anderson, J. R. (2007). How can the human mind occur in the physical universe? Oxford University Press.

Lovett, M. C., & Anderson, J. R. (1996). History of success and current context in problem solving: Combined influences on operator selection.26 Cognitive Psychology, 31(2), 168–217. https://doi.org/10.1006/cogp.1996.0014

17. Visual Imagery Facilitates Insight Problem-Solving

Metcalfe, J., & Wiebe, D. (1987). Intuition in insight and noninsight problem solving. Memory & Cognition, 15(3), 238–246. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03197722

Schooler, J. W., & Melcher, J. (1995). The ineffability of insight. In S. M. Smith, T. B. Ward, & R. A. Finke (Eds.), The creative cognition approach (pp. 97–133).27 MIT Press.

Thomas, L. E., & Lleras, A. (2009). Covert shifts of attention function as an implicit aid to insight. Cognition, 111(2), 168–174. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2009.01.005

Section 5: Growing with Your Museum — Long-Term Benefits and Skill Enhancement

18. Spatial Intelligence Improves with Practice

Gentner, D. (1983). Structure-mapping: A theoretical framework for analogy. Cognitive Science, 7(2), 155–170. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0364-0213(83)80009-3

Kurtz, K. J., Miao, C. H., & Gentner, D. (2001). Learning by analogical bootstrapping. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 10(4), 417–446.28 https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327809JLS1004_2

Holyoak, K. J., & Thagard, P. (1989). Analogical mapping by constraint satisfaction. Cognitive Science, 13(3), 295–355. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15516709cog1303_1

Visualizing Verbalizing Research

Bell, N. (1991). Gestalt imagery: A critical factor in language comprehension.Annals of Dyslexia, 41(1), 246–260. doi:10.1007/BF02648089 Lindamood-Bell

Johnson-Glenberg, M. C. (2000). Training reading comprehension in adequate decoders/poor comprehenders: Verbal versus visual strategies. Journal of Educational Psychology, 92(4), 772–782. doi:10.1037/0022–0663.92.4.772 ResearchGate

Eden, G. F., Jones, K. M., Cappell, K., Gareau, L., Wood, F. B., Zeffiro, T. A., & Flowers, D. L. (2004). Neural changes following remediation in adult developmental dyslexia. Neuron, 44, 411–422. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2004.10.019 Lindamood-Bell

Truch, S. (2004). Stimulating basic recall in hyperlexic students using the Visualizing/Verbalizing Program. The Reading Foundation, Calgary, Canada. (Technical report) PubMed Central

Murdaugh, D. L., Maximo, J. O., & Kana, R. K. (2015). Changes in intrinsic connectivity of the brain’s reading network following intervention in children with autism. Human Brain Mapping, 36(8), 2965–2979. doi:10.1002/hbm.22821 PubMed Central

Murdaugh, D. L., Deshpande, H. D., & Kana, R. K. (2016). The impact of reading intervention on brain responses underlying language in children with autism. Autism Research, 9(1), 141–154. doi:10.1002/aur.1503 ResearchGate

Maximo, J. O., Murdaugh, D. L., O’Kelley, S., & Kana, R. K. (2017). Changes in intrinsic local connectivity after reading intervention in children with autism.Brain and Language, 175, 11–17. doi:10.1016/j.bandl.2017.08.008 UAB Sites

Doctoral dissertation

Lemelman, A. R. (2011). The impact of a Visualizing and Verbalizing language intervention on reading ability in children with autism spectrum disorders(Doctoral dissertation, University of Alabama at Birmingham). ProQuest №1513353. UAB Digital Commons

Ongoing / funded trial

National Institutes of Health (R01) — Efficacy of an intensive Visualizing and Verbalizing intervention for struggling readers (Project ID #9593912). Phase-III RCT, 2023–2027.

Additional Citations as I read more supporting research:

Carney, R. N., & Levin, J. R. (2000). Mnemonic instruction, with a focus on transfer. Journal of Educational Psychology, 92(4), 783–790. ResearchGate

Carney, R. N., & Levin, J. R. (2003). Promoting higher-order learning benefits by building lower-order mnemonic connections. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 17, 563–575. Wiley Online Library

Levin, J. R., Anglin, G. J., & Carney, R. N. (1987). On empirically validating functions of pictures in prose. In D. M. Willows & H. A. Houghton (Eds.), The psychology of illustration: Basic research (pp. 51–85). Springer. SCIRP

Levin, J. R. (1993). Mnemonic strategies and classroom learning: A twenty-year report card. The Elementary School Journal, 94(2), 235–244.

1. Levin, M. E., & Levin, J. R. (1990). Scientific mnemonomies: Methods for maximizing more than memory. American Educational Research Journal, 27(2), 301 — 321.

Blurb: A pictorial “mnemonomy” helped undergrads learn a four-level plant taxonomy and, five days later, construct new hierarchies and solve plant analogies — evidence that keyword imagery can fuel higher-order reasoning.

2. Carney, R. N., & Levin, J. R. (2000). Mnemonic instruction, with a focus on transfer. Journal of Educational Psychology, 92(4), 783 — 790.

Blurb: Face-name keyword mnemonics let novices recognise unstudied Impressionist paintings from style alone, showing that imagery techniques can transfer well beyond the original learning set.

3. Carney, R. N., & Levin, J. R. (2003). Promoting higher-order learning benefits by building lower-order mnemonic connections. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 17(5), 563 — 575.

Blurb: Students who encoded fish families with keyword pictures later beat controls on analogy and hierarchy problems requiring flexible re-organisation of the taxonomy, confirming that concrete mnemonic anchors can bootstrap abstract problem-solving.

5. Spaced Practice Reinforces Concepts

  • Agarwal, P. K., Bain, P. M., & Chamberlain, R. W. (2012). The value of applied research: Retrieval practice improves classroom learning and recommendations from a teacher, a principal, and a scientist. Educational Psychology Review, 24, 437–448. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-012-9210-2

  • Cepeda, N. J., Pashler, H., Vul, E., Wixted, J. T., & Rohrer, D. (2006). Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks: A review and quantitative synthesis.Psychological Bulletin, 132, 354–380. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.132.3.354

  • Kang, S. H. K. (2016). Spaced repetition promotes efficient and effective learning: Policy implications for instruction. Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 3, 12–19. https://doi.org/10.1177/2372732215624708

11. Categorical Search Efficiency Principle

12. Single Visual Space Operates as One Cognitive Category

  • Hollingworth, A. (2006). Scene and position specificity in visual memory for objects. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 32, 58–69. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.32.1.58

  • Brockmole, J. R., & Henderson, J. M. (2006). Recognition and attention guidance during contextual cueing in real-world scenes: Evidence from eye movements. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 59, 1177–1187. https://doi.org/10.1080/17470210500416399

  • Makovski, T., & Jiang, Y. V. (2010). Contextual learning of multiple spatial configurations. Journal of Vision, 10(5), 4. https://doi.org/10.1167/10.5.4

14. Side-by-Side Visualization Boosts Analogical Reasoning

15. Analogical Reasoning Drives Transfer Learning

18. Spatial Intelligence Improves with Practice

  • Uttal, D. H., Meadow, N. G., Tipton, E., Hand, L. L., Alden, A. R., Warren, C., & Newcombe, N. S. (2013). The malleability of spatial skills: A meta-analysis of training studies. Psychological Bulletin, 139, 352–402. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0028446

  • Sorby, S. A. (2009). Educational research in developing 3-D spatial skills for engineering students. International Journal of Science Education, 31, 459–480. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500690802595839

  • Stieff, M., & Uttal, D. H. (2015). How much can spatial training improve STEM achievement? Educational Psychology Review, 27, 607–615. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-015-9304-8

theodore shachtman
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