Imagery retrieval may explain why recall of negative scenes contains more accurate detail.

We investigated whether the presence of imagery at retrieval was associated with the finding that negative pictures and scenes are recalled with greater perceptual detail. Participants were presented with 30 scenes taken from the International Affective Picture System that were rated either high or low on valence, but similarly on arousal. Recall was prompted with matched visual or verbal cues. During recall, participants reported any images that came to mind and rated them for vividness, whereas accuracy was rated independently. Imagery was described at test in response to over 60% of the stimuli. Whereas vividness was predicted by negative valence, images occurred more often in response to visual cues. The association of negative valence and visual cueing with better recall was observed only in the presence of reported imagery. These findings have important implications for models and experiments focusing on the recall and recognition of visual stimuli.