When I searched PsycINFO for peer-reviewed, experimental research about imagery and reading comprehension (ruling out anything to do with music), I got no hits. When I loosened the constraints, I got more (mostly dissertations and theory articles). There were a couple of interest, though. Here’s the reference to a positive example.

Center, Y., Freeman, L., & Robertson, G. (1999). The effect of visual imagery training on the reading and listening comprehension of low listening comprehenders in Year 2. Journal of Research in Reading, 22, 241-256.

I didn’t have time to get through the entire set of abstracts, so the jury’s got to be out on this one until someone can conduct a review. If there is a strong core of studies on the benefits of imagery, I’ll be pleased to note it. So far, I’ve missed it in my routine scans of the literature.

If there is a convincing body of evidence, that’d be great. However, I’d still hope we would exercise caution in exanding on the use of imagery beyond the ways in which it’s been shown to be effective. I’m very wary of folks over-generalizing.

Here’s a great example (perhaps a tad hyperbolic): “Ahh, research shows that phonological awareness is related to reading and that improving phonological awareness is associated with improved early reading outcomes. Let’s teach all the PA we can…rhyming, segmenting, phoneme counting, sound isolation, phoneme deletion, blending….” The problem with this approach is that there are really only two phonemic awareness tasks (segmenting and blending) that really matter; teaching others is wasteful. Furthermore, often the activities used to teach skills and concepts are far removed from what’s been shown to be effective.

So, let’s hope that Ms. Craiglow’s instruction was predicated on evidence and hewed close to the procedures that were studied. Perhaps Mr. Holme’s success was caused by her efforts. Regardless, it’s great that he achieved well.

http://www.lblp.com/programs/conceptimagery.shtml

“The Nancibell® Visualizing and Verbalizing for Language Comprehension and Thinking® (V/V®) successfully stimulates concept imagery. Individuals become able to image gestalts which include color, and even movement. This improves their language comprehension, reasoning for critical thinking, and expressive language skills.

It is common for individuals to gain years in language comprehension in four weeks of intensive instruction. “