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Imagery and Spatial Cognition
<DOCINFO AUTHOR ""TITLE "Imagery and Spatial Cognition: Methods, models and cognitive assessment"SUBJECT "Advances in Consciousness Research, Volume 66"KEYWORDS ""SIZE HEIGHT "240"WIDTH "160"VOFFSET "4">

Advances in Consciousness Research
Advances in Consciousness Research provides a forum for scholars from
different scientific disciplines and fields of knowledge who study consciousness
in its multifaceted aspects. Thus the Series will include (but not be limited to)
the various areas of cognitive science, including cognitive psychology, linguis-
tics, brain science and philosophy. The orientation of the Series is toward
developing new interdisciplinary and integrative approaches for the investiga-
tion, description and theory of consciousness, as well as the practical conse-
quences of this research for the individual and society.
Editor
Maxim I. Stamenov
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
Editorial Board
David Chalmers
Australian National University
Gordon G. Globus
University of California at Irvine
Ray Jackendoff
Brandeis University
Christof Koch
California Institute of Technology
Stephen Kosslyn
Harvard University
Earl Mac Cormac
Duke University
Steven Macknik
Barrow Neurological Institute
George Mandler
University of California at San Diego
Susana Martinez-Conde
Barrow Neurological Institute
John R. Searle
University of California at Berkeley
Petra Stoerig
Universität Düsseldorf
Volume 66
Imagery and Spatial Cognition: Methods, models and cognitive assessment
Edited by Tomaso Vecchi and Gabriella Bottini

Imagery and Spatial Cognition
Methods, models and cognitive assessment
Edited by
Tomaso Vecchi
Gabriella Bottini
Università di Pavia
John Benjamins Publishing Company
Amsterdam/Philadelphia

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements
8
TM
of American National Standard for Information Sciences – Permanence
of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ansi z39.48-1984.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Imagery and Spatial Cognition : Methods, models and cognitive assessment /
edited by Tomaso Vecchi and Gabriella Bottini.
p. cm. (Advances in Consciousness Research, issn 1381–589X ; v.
66)
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
1. Imagery (Psychology) 2. Space perception. 3. Visual perception. 4.
Mental representation. I. Vecchi, Tomaso, 1966- II. Bottini, Gabriella. III.
Series.
BF367.I456 2006
153.7’52--dc22 2006040576
isbn 90 272 5202 5 (Hb; alk. paper)
© 2006 – John Benjamins B.V.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint, microﬁlm, or
any other means, without written permission from the publisher.
John Benjamins Publishing Co. · P.O. Box 36224 · 1020 me Amsterdam · The Netherlands
John Benjamins North America · P.O. Box 27519 · Philadelphia pa 19118-0519 · usa

JB[v.20020404] Prn:19/07/2006; 11:01 F: AICR66CO.tex / p.1 (49-129)
Table of contents
List of contributors ix
Introduction xiii
Section I. Methodology of imagery and visuo-spatial functions
chapter 1.1
Early methods for assessing imagery and nonverbal abilities 3
John T. E. Richardson
chapter 1.2
The assessment of imagery and visuo-spatial working memory functions
in children and adults 15
Irene C. Mammarella, Francesca Pazzaglia, and Cesare Cornoldi
chapter 1.3
Do we only remember where we left our things when we expect to need
them again? Expectancy manipulations and object-location memory 39
Albert Postma and Roy P. C. Kessels
chapter 1.4
Variations on the image scanning paradigm: What do they contribute to
our knowledge of mental imagery? 49
Michel Denis and Grégoire Borst
chapter 1.5
The use of transcranial magnetic stimulation in spatial cognition 69
Massimiliano Oliveri, Giacomo Koch, Sara Torriero, and Carlo Caltagirone
Section II. Models and components of imagery and visuo-spatial processes
chapter 2.1
Neural bases and cognitive mechanisms of human spatial memory 85
Panagiota Panagiotaki, and Alain Berthoz
chapter 2.2
Working memory, imagery and visuo-spatial mechanisms 101
Zaira Cattaneo, Maria Chiara Fastame, Tomaso Vecchi, and Cesare Cornoldi

 Table of contents
chapter 2.3
The episodic buffer: Implications and connections with visuo-spatial research 139
David G. Pearson
chapter 2.4
Visuo-spatial components of numerical representation 155
Maria-Dolores de Hevia, Giuseppe Vallar, and Luisa Girelli
chapter 2.5
Motor components and complexity effects in visuo-spatial processes 173
Robert H. Logie and Tomaso Vecchi
Section III. Aging and visuo-spatial abilities
chapter 3.1
Aging and visuo-spatial working memory 187
Elena Cavallini and Tomaso Vecchi
chapter 3.2
Imagery and aging 203
Paola Palladino and Rossana De Beni
chapter 3.3
Object-location memory in ageing and dementia 221
Roy P. C. Kessels and Albert Postma
chapter 3.4
Visuospatial and constructional impairments in mental deterioration 239
Dario Grossi, Massimiliano Conson, and Luigi Trojano
chapter 3.5
Using visual imagery as a mnemonic for verbal associative learning:
Developmental and individual differences 259
Christopher Hertzog and John Dunlosky
Section IV. Neuropsychological aspects of space representation
chapter 4.1
Spatial navigation: Cognitive and neuropsychological aspects 283
Cecilia Guariglia and Luigi Pizzamiglio
chapter 4.2
Visuomotor control of spatially directed action 297
A. David Milner and Monika Harvey
chapter 4.3
Visual peripersonal space 323
Andrea Serino, Alessandro Farnè, and Elisabetta Làdavas

Table of contents 
chapter 4.4
Visual perceptual processing in unilateral spatial neglect: The case
of visual illusions 337
Giuseppe Vallar and Roberta Daini
chapter 4.5
The impairment of the body image in the unilateral neglect syndrome 363
Gabriella Bottini, Martina Gandola, Lorenzo Pia, and Anna Berti
chapter 4.6
Simulating object-centred neglect with head-centred coding of space based
on non-linear gaze-dependent units 381
Massimo Silvetti, Fabrizio Doricchi, and Eliano Pessa
chapter 4.7
Omission vs. shift of details in spatial representations 395
Alessio Toraldo and Gabriella Bottini
Index 417

JB[v.20020404] Prn:2/06/2006; 13:40 F: AICR66LC.tex / p.1 (49-245)
List of contributors
Alain Berthoz
LPPA-College de France-CNRS,
11 Marcelin Berthelot,
75005, Paris, France
E-mail: alain.berthoz@college-de-france.fr
Annamaria Berti
Dipartimento di Psicologia,
Università di Torino, via Po 14,
10123 Torino, Italy
E-mail: berti@psych.unito.it
Grégoire Borst
Groupe Cognition Humaine,
LIMSI-CNRS, BP 133, 91403
Orsay Cedex, France
Gabriella Bottini
Università di Pavia, P.za Botta 6,
27100 Pavia, Italy;
and Laboratorio di Neuropsicologia
Cognitiva, Ospedale Niguarda,
Milano, Italy
E-mail: gabriella.bottini@unipv.it
Carlo Caltagirone
Fondazione “Santa Lucia” IRCCS,
00179 Roma, Italy;
and Clinica Neurologica,
Università di Roma “Tor Vergata”,
Italy
Zaira Cattaneo
27100 Pavia, Italy
E-mail: zaira.cattaneo@unipv.it
Elena Cavallini
27100 Pavia, Italy
E-mail: ecava@unipv.it
Massimiliano Conson
Department of Psychology,
Second University of Naples,
via Vivaldi 43, 81100 Caserta, Italy
Cesare Cornoldi
Dipartimento di Psicologia Generale,
Università di Padova, via Venezia 8,
35131 Padova, Italy
E-mail: cesare.cornoldi@unipd.it
Roberta Daini
Università di Milano-Bicocca,
20126 Milano and IRCCS Instituto
Auxologico Italiano, Milano, Italy
E-mail: roberta.daini@unimib.it
Rossana De Beni
35131 Padova, Italy
E-mail: rossana.debeni@unipd.it
Maria-Dolores de Hevia
20126 Milano, Italy;
and Department of Psychology,
Harvard University, USA
Email: lola.dehevia@unimib.it
Michel Denis
Groupe Cognition Humaine,
LIMSI-CNRS, BP 133, 91403
Orsay Cedex, France
E-mail: denis@limsi.fr

 List of contributors
Fabrizio Doricchi
Università di Roma “La Sapienza”,
via dei Marsi 78, Roma, Italy;
and Neuropsychology Laboratory,
Fondazione Santa Lucia,
IRCCS Roma, Italy
E-mail: fabrizio.doricchi@uniroma1.it
John Dunlosky
P.O. Box 5190,
Psychology Department,
Kent State University, Kent,
OH 44242, Kent State University, USA
E-mail: jdunlosk@kent.edu
Alessandro Farnè
Inserm U 534, Espace et action,
16 Av. Du Doyenne Lepine,
69500 Bron, France
and CsrNC, Centro studi e ricerche
Neuroscienze Cognitive,
Cesena, Italy
E-mail: farne@lyon.inserm.fr
Maria Chiara Fastame
27100 Pavia, Italy
E-mail: fastame@unipv.it
Martina Gandola
27100 Pavia, Italy;
Milano, Italy
E-mail: martina.gandola@unipv.it
Luisa Girelli
20126 Milano, Italy
E-mail: luisa.girelli@unimib.it
Dario Grossi
via Vivaldi 43, 81100 Caserta, Italy
Cecilia Guariglia
Fondazione Santa Lucia,
IRCCS Roma, Italy
E-mail: cecilia.guariglia@uniroma1.it
Monika Harvey
University of Glasgow, G12 8QB, UK
E-mail: m.harvey@psy.gla.ac.uk
Christopher Hertzog
School of Psychology,
654 Cherry Street, Room 235,
Georgia Institute of Technology,
Atlanta, GA 30332-0170, USA
E-mail: christopher.hertzog@psych.gatech.edu
Roy P. C. Kessels
Psychological Laboratory,
Helmholtz Instituut, Utrecht University,
Heidelberglaan 2, 3584 CS Utrecht,
The Netherlands;
and Department of Neurology,
University Medical Centre Utrecht,
The Netherlands
E-mail: r.p.c.kessels@fss.uu.nl
Giacomo Koch
00179 Roma, Italy
E-mail: giakoch@libero.it
Elisabetta Làdavas
Università degli Studi di Bologna,
V.le Berti Pichat 5,
40127 Bologna, Italy;
Neuroscienze Cognitive,
Cesena, Italy
E-mail: elisabetta.ladavas@unibo.it
Robert H. Logie
Human Cognitive Neuroscience,
PPLS, University of Edinburgh, UK
E-mail: rlogie@staffmail.ed.ac.uk

List of contributors 
Irene C. Mammarella
35131 Padova, Italy
E-mail: irene.mammarella@unipd.it
A. David Milner
Department of Psychology
and Wolfson Research Institute,
University of Durham, UK
E-mail: a.d.milner@durham.ac.uk
Massimiliano Oliveri
Università di Palermo, Italy;
and Laboratorio di Neurologia Clinica
e comportamentale, Fondazione
“Santa Lucia” IRCCS, via Ardeatina 306,
00179 Roma, Italy
E-mail: maxoliveri@tiscali.it
Paola Palladino
27100 Pavia, Italy
E-mail: paola.palladino@unipv.it
Panagiota Panagiotaki
LPPA-College de France-CNRS,
11 Marcelin Berthelot,
75005, Paris, France
E-mail: panagiota.panagiotaki@college-
de-france.fr
Francesca Pazzaglia
35131 Padova, Italy
E-mail: francesca.pazzaglia@unipd.it
David G. Pearson
School of Psychology,
William Guild Building,
University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen,
Scotland, UK
E-mail: d.g.pearson@abdn.ac.uk
Eliano Pessa
27100 Pavia, Italy
E-mail: eliano.pessa@unipv.it
Lorenzo Pia
Università di Torino,
via Po 14, 10123 Torino, Italy
Luigi Pizzamiglio
Fondazione Santa Lucia, IRCCS
Roma, Italy
E-mail: luigi.pizzamiglio@uniroma1.it
Albert Postma
Psychological Laboratory,
Helmholtz Instituut, Utrecht University,
Heidelberglaan 2, 3584 CS Utrecht,
The Netherlands
E-mail: a.postma@fss.uu.nl
Institute of Educational Technology,
The Open University, Walton Hall,
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, UK
E-mail: J.T.E.Richardson@open.ac.uk
Andrea Serino
Università degli Studi di Bologna,
V.le Berti Pichat 5,
40127 Bologna, Italy;
Neuroscienze Cognitive, Cesena, Italy
Massimo Silvetti
Fondazione Santa Lucia, IRCCS
Roma, Italy
Alessio Toraldo
27100 Pavia, Italy;
Milano, Italy
E-mail: alessio.toraldo@unipv.it

 List of contributors
Sara Torriero
00179 Roma, Italy
Luigi Trojano
via Vivaldi 43,
81100 Caserta, Italy;
and Maugeri Foundation, IRCCS,
Telese Terme, Italy
E-mail: luigi.trojano@unina2.it
Giuseppe Vallar
20126 Milano, IRCCS Instituto
Auxologico Italiano, Milano, Italy
E-mail: giuseppe.vallar@unimib.it
Tomaso Vecchi
27100 Pavia, Italy
E-mail: vecchi@unipv.it

JB[v.20020404] Prn:2/06/2006; 13:15 F: AICR66IN.tex / p.1 (48-124)
Introduction
The interest of cognitive neuroscience and of neuropsychology on imagery and spa-
tial cognition is remarkably increased in the last decades. Different areas of research
contribute to the clarification of the multiple cognitive processes subserving spatial
perception and exploration, and to the definition of the neurophysiological mecha-
nisms underpinning these cognitive functions. Observation of normal subjects and
patients’ behaviour allows to better clarify these different aspects implicated in spatial
processing also considering the important contribution of neuroimaging. Theoret-
ical issues involved in space processing include different levels such as: perception,
exploration and mental representation.
An adequate use of spatial competencies needs the balanced interaction of per-
ception, working memory and action. Moving through the world, in fact, implies the
ability to integrate different signals (visual, acoustic, somatosensory, vestibular). These
elementary stimuli, continuously presented to the brain, have to be integrated in order
to build up a complex space representation which takes into account the relationship
between our body movements in the environment.
The aim of this book is to provide the reader (post-graduate students as well
as experts) with a complete overview of this field of research. It illustrates the way
how brain, behaviour and cognition interact in normal and pathological subjects in
perceiving, representing and exploring space.
Each chapter provides and updated review of the relevant literature as well as il-
lustrates empirical data some of them collected by the authors themselves, addressing
practical and/or theoretical issues in this domain.
The first section is dedicated to the methodology of both imagery and visuo-
spatial functions. Experimental methods and instruments to assess imagery and spatial
abilities are illustrated for both adults and children. Particular aspects of object-
location memory are also explored. The interaction between experimental and neu-
rophysiological components have also been investigated with special attention to tran-
scranial magnetic stimulation
The second part of the book is centred on the theoretical aspects of mental imagery
from the cognitive and the neural point of view. Particular attention is devoted to dif-
ferent models of working memory subserving visuo-spatial mechanisms. The spatial
representation of numbers is also extensively described.
Age-related differences in visuo-spatial abilities represent an important issue of
debate in the literature, and the third section is completely devoted to this topic pro-

JB[v.20020404] Prn:2/06/2006; 13:15 F: AICR66IN.tex / p.2 (124-149)
 Introduction
viding a review addressing differences both in normal subjects and in patients suffering
from cognitive deterioration.
The last part of the book focuses on the cognitive/neuropsychological pro-
cessing involved in the representation of personal, peripersonal and extrapersonal
space. Further, theoretical issues concerning the body representation are treated from
both semantic (body-parts-knowledge) and more spatial aspects (body-segments-
relationship). Evidence of different cognitive processes and neurophysiological mech-
anisms is provided from experiments on normal and brain damaged humans. Part
of this section illustrates the role of neuroimaging techniques in exploring the neuro-
physiological correlates of different spatial components, involving bodily, peripersonal
(allocentric), and extrapersonal (retinotopic) coordinates. Data from functional and
morphological studies in normal subjects and in brain damaged patients are largely
discussed.
During the preparation of this book, we benefited from helpful discussion and
suggestions by friends and colleagues in Pavia and Milan, and we would like to take
this occasion to thank all the people working in our laboratories who make us possible
enjoying doing research. During the years, we have been financially supported by Fon-
dazione Cariplo, Bracco spa, University of Pavia and the Italian Ministry for University
and Research.

JB[v.20020404] Prn:27/03/2006; 14:50 F: AICR66S1.tex / p.1 (48-72)
section 
Methodology of imagery
and visuo-spatial functions

JB[v.20020404] Prn:25/07/2006; 16:59 F: AICR6601.tex / p.1 (48-115)
chapter .
Early methods for assessing imagery
and nonverbal abilities
Introduction
Imagery is a personal or phenomenal experience, and it is “private” or “subjective”
in the sense that we cannot directly observe other people’s images. Moreover, there
is no nonverbal behaviour that is characteristic of having any particular image: for
example, there is no natural behaviour that is characteristic of having an image of
Salisbury Cathedral (Quinton 1973:328). Hence, we cannot come to know about other
people’s images on the basis of their observable nonverbal behaviour. Instead, we have
to depend upon their verbal behaviour: upon what they say, rather than what they do.
Accordingly, in the first part of this chapter, I shall describe early attempts to collect
systematic verbal accounts of people’s experience of imagery.
Nevertheless, for contemporary cognitive psychologists, imagery is not simply an
interesting kind of phenomenal experience. It also provides a form of mental repre-
sentation in which information about the appearance of physical objects, events and
scenes can be depicted and manipulated. As a result, it is able to make a distinctive
contribution to performing everyday tasks, especially where the use of linguistic repre-
sentations is impossible or unhelpful. In the second part of this chapter, I shall describe
early attempts to construct nonverbal tests of ability. Initially, these tests were intended
as alternative methods of measuring intelligence in individuals who lacked the linguis-
tic or cultural knowledge needed for more conventional verbal tests. In the final part
of the chapter, I shall explain how these tests came to be regarded as measures of a
distinctive kind of nonverbal or spatial ability.
Imagery questionnaires
Galton (1880; see also 1883:83–114) developed a questionnaire in which respondents
were asked to describe the quality of the mental imagery that was evoked when they
tried to visualise familiar objects or scenes (for instance, the appearance of their break-

 John T. E. Richardson
fast table that morning). Most of the questions were concerned with visual imagery,
although one question asked the respondents to describe their imagery in other sen-
sory modalities, and another referred to imagery for music. Galton began by collecting
accounts from his friends in the scientific community as well as a wider cross-section
of people whom he met “in general society”. He found that there was great diversity in
the experience of imagery among the general population.
He then obtained responses from a larger sample of 100 of his male acquaintances,
of whom a majority were “distinguished in science or in other fields of intellectual
work” (Galton 1883:304). He found that he could order their accounts in terms of the
vividness of their experienced imagery from “brilliant, distinct, never blotchy” to “al-
most no association of memory with objective visual impressions” (310–312). Galton
obtained a similar distribution of responses from 172 boys taking science classes at the
Charterhouse School in London. He also concluded that “the power of visualising is
higher in the female sex than in the male” (99), although his published results were
based solely upon the responses of men and boys.
Galton’s questions were open-ended, and his respondents were left to describe
their mental experiences in their own words. Betts (1909) used Galton’s questions as
the basis for a quantitative instrument that he called a “Questionnaire upon Mental
Imagery” (QMI). This consisted of 150 items covering seven sensory modalities (for
instance, the sight of the sun sinking below the horizon, or the smell of fresh paint). In
each case, respondents were asked to judge the vividness of the image that was evoked
when they thought about the item on a scale from 1 for “Perfectly clear and as vivid as
the actual experience” to 7 for “No image present at all, you only knowing that you are
thinking of the object” (20–21).
Betts found that a group of psychology students tended to report relatively vivid
images (with median scores around 2 or 3 on his 7-point scale), whereas a group of
professional psychologists reported less vivid images (with median scores around 4
or 5). Nevertheless, within both of these groups there was considerable individual
variation in each of the seven sensory modalities covered by the QMI. Finally, Betts
found that there was essentially no relationship between the reported vividness of the
students’ mental imagery and their academic performance (31, 48).
Sheehan (1967) found that with group administration Betts’s QMI took about
55 min to administer, which he considered to be prohibitively long for any serious
research applications. He therefore developed a short form of the QMI that con-
tained just five items from each of the sensory modalities and took about 10 min to
administer. In subsequent research this version of the QMI has been shown to have
good internal consistency and satisfactory test-retest reliability; the application of fac-
tor analysis tends to yield a primary factor that reflects the vividness of experienced
imagery in general, sometimes with secondary factors contrasting particular sensory
modalities (for a review, see A. Richardson 1994:17–19, 42).
Marks (1973) argued that it was more appropriate to focus upon the sensory
modality that was most likely to be evoked in specific tasks, and he therefore devised
the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (VVIQ). This contained 16 items to be

Chapter 1.1. Early methods for assessing imagery and nonverbal abilities 
judged in terms of evoked visual imagery on a 5-point scale similar to that used with
the QMI. The items themselves are concerned with four familiar objects or scenes, each
of which is to be rated on four different aspects. The internal consistency of the VVIQ
is good, its test-retest reliability is satisfactory, and the application of factor analysis
yields a single underlying dimension that reflects the vividness of visual imagery (for
reviews, see McKelvie 1995; A. Richardson, 1994:27, 158).
A key issue in research using imagery questionnaires is whether the scores ob-
tained on these instruments predict the participants’ performance on tasks that are
believed to involve the use of mental imagery. Sheehan and Neisser (1969) failed to
find any reliable relationship between scores on the short version of the QMI and per-
formance in tests of visual memory. Marks (1973) argued that this was because their
memory task had involved abstract geometrical patterns with little inherent interest or
meaning, and also because they had averaged their participants’ responses to the QMI
across all seven sensory modalities instead of focusing on visual imagery.
In three different memory experiments using coloured photographs of objects or
scenes, Marks found that people who had been classified as “good visualisers” ac-
cording to their scores on the VVIQ produced better performance than people who
had been classified as “poor visualisers”. However, this study was vulnerable to experi-
menter effects: that is, people who are classified in advance as good or poor visualisers
may produce the results that the researcher wants, either because they have become
aware of the purpose of the experiment or because they are (perhaps unconsciously)
treated differently by the experimenter (see Rosenthal 1966).
Since the 1970s, the VVIQ has been used in a very large number of investigations,
and McKelvie (1995) provided an integrative review of their findings with regard to
its predictive validity. He found a clear relationship (a mean correlation of +0.377)
between rated vividness of visual imagery according to the VVIQ and other mea-
sures based on self-reports of mental states. There was a somewhat weaker but still
appreciable relationship (a mean correlation of +0.273) between scores on the VVIQ
and performance in cognitive or perceptual tasks. Finally, there was only a relatively
weak relationship (a mean correlation of +0.137) between scores on the VVIQ and
performance in tests of learning and memory.
One final questionnaire that might be mentioned is Gordon’s (1949) Test of Visual
Imagery Control (TVIC). This was devised with the intention of classifying the respon-
dents in terms of whether their imagery tended to be “controlled” or “autonomous”.
(Gordon’s own interest was in the extent to which this affected how strongly the
respondents held stereotypes about particular cultural groups.) It contained 11 ques-
tions relating to views of a car, both stationary and in motion, that were answered on
a yes/no basis. Start and A. Richardson (1964) changed one of the items into two sep-
arate items and included an “unsure” response category. Their revised version of the
TVIC is the one that was generally used in subsequent research.
The internal consistency of the instrument is good and its test-retest reliability
is satisfactory. However, applications of factor analysis tend to yield four separate
(though correlated) factors relating to the different kinds of images prompted by the

 John T. E. Richardson
different items. Scores on the TVIC tend to be correlated with scores on both the VVIQ
and the shortened version of the QMI. They have been found to show a positive re-
lationship with measures of creative thinking, but they are not consistently related to
performance on tests of memory and cognition function (McKelvie 1995; A. Richard-
son 1994:29–32, 60, 80, 82, 90–94, 159–160). This confirms the same general picture
that has been obtained with the QMI and the VVIQ.
Performance tests of intelligence
Galton (1885) was also responsible for devising some of the earliest (chiefly psy-
chophysical) tests of ability, and his proposals were developed by researchers in the
United States under the theme of “mental testing”. However, doubts were raised about
whether their simple laboratory-based tasks measured a unitary construct of “intelli-
gence” and whether they were appropriate for diagnosing mental retardation (Popple-
stone McPherson 1994:65–67). The “intelligence scale” devised by Binet and Simon
(1905, 1908) was specifically intended for this purpose, and English translations of
their tests were published in the United States by H. H. Goddard.
Nevertheless, many of these tests were verbal in nature or required verbal in-
structions. They were therefore problematic when administered to people from homes
where English was not spoken or people with a hearing loss. Healy and Fernald (1911)
proposed that in these contexts tests should be used that did not rely on verbal skills but
could be administered through pantomime alone. Among the tests that they described
were “formboards”, in which participants were required to fit geometrical shapes into
matching recesses in the surface of a board. The first formboard had been constructed
by E. Seguin in France in attempting to develop the intellectual abilities of a mentally
retarded child, but it was Norsworthy (1906) who first suggested that these tasks could
be used for the purposes of educational assessment.
Healy and Fernald (1911) extended these tasks to make “picture formboards” or
“picture puzzles”, in which participants were guided both by the shapes of the figures
and by the fragments of a drawn scene that they contained. For instance, one of these
was a jigsaw based on a picture of a mare and her foal taken from a child’s picture
book, and most of the pieces followed the natural lines of the two animals. Tests of this
kind, intended to rely purely on nonverbal skills, came to be described as “performance
tests” (Popplestone McPherson 1994:76–77). Indeed, both Binet and Goddard had
incorporated such tests into their intelligence scales to try to reduce the impact of
verbal skills on performance (see Zenderland 1998:241–243).
Another situation where the use of Binet’s scale proved problematic was the
screening of potential immigrants to the United States. Physicians at the immigration
stations were charged with identifying people who had contagious diseases or who
had diseases or deformities which would render them unable to earn a living. In 1907,
“imbeciles” and the “feeble-minded” were explicitly mentioned as people who should
be excluded on this basis. Initially, the physicians claimed to be able to identify such

Chapter 1.1. Early methods for assessing imagery and nonverbal abilities 
people based on routine clinical examination, but they came under increasing criti-
cism from politicians, fellow professionals, and the general public for failing to spot
mentally defective people and prevent them from entering the country.
Accordingly, the physicians at the Ellis Island immigration station in New York
Harbour began to assess existing performance tests (Gwyn 1914; Sprague 1914) and
also to develop new ones of their own. The one person who was chiefly responsible for
the latter activity was H. A. Knox. Between September 1913 and April 1914, he pub-
lished a series of articles describing 12 new performance tests (see J. T. E. Richardson
2003). Many were formboards or picture puzzles based on existing tests, but there was
also a “Visual Comparison Test” that involved matching simple drawings presented in
groups of varying size and complexity, and a “Cube Imitation Test” where participants
had to copy a tapped sequence of cubes (Figure 1).
In devising these tests, Knox’s aim was to construct a scale for the diagnosis of
mental deficiency that was explicitly modelled on Binet’s. He published a number
of accounts of this scale, although only one of these accounts was cited widely in
the subsequent literature (Knox 1914). He also produced an illustrated account for
the popular magazine Scientific American (Knox 1915). During 1915, he arranged for
many of his tests to be produced commercially by C. H. Stoelting Co. of Chicago,
already an established supplier of laboratory equipment and test materials. As a re-
sult, Knox’s tests became widely used during World War I and throughout the period
between the two World Wars.
Pintner and Paterson (1917) included many of the Ellis Island tests as well as
previous instruments in a performance scale for use both with normal children and
with mentally retarded adults. Many of their tests were in turn included in the Army
Performance Scale (Yoakum Yerkes 1920), intended for the assessment of military
personnel. Others who adopted the Ellis Island tests for use in performance scales were
Johnson and Schriefer (1922), Worthington (1926), Gaw (1923, 1925), Arthur (1925),
Drever and Collins (1928), Babcock (1930, 1932) and Cornell and Coxe (1934).
After World War II, the initial generation of performance tests was largely replaced
by new instruments and especially by the Wechsler scales. Kent (1950) commented at
the time: “The sub-tests of the Pintner–Paterson series are either obsolete or obsoles-
cent, and those that remain in use will probably be superseded within a generation”
(p. 44). However, this gives a somewhat misleading impression. Boake (2002) argued
that most, if not all, of the subtests in Wechsler’s scales have their origins in procedures
devised between the 1880s and World War I. Indeed, Wechsler (1939:78) himself ex-
plained that his aim had not been to produce brand new tests but to select the best
combination from those that were already available.
In particular, in constructing his scales, Wechsler felt it important to maintain the
distinction between verbal and performance tests. In his own experience as a psycho-
logical examiner in World War I, the use of verbally dominated tests led to an over-
diagnosis of mental deficiency even in native English speakers (Wechsler 1935:256).
Nowadays, it is generally taken for granted that any adequate measure of intelligence

 John T. E. Richardson
Figure 1. The Cube Imitation Test: “This consists of four large [cubes] and one small black
cube. Beginning on the left, the examiner moves the small cube, as shown by the dotted
lines, and the subject is asked to do what the examiner did” (Knox 1913:564).
must include both verbal and performance subtests, but the origins of this idea lie in
the work carried out by Knox and his colleagues at Ellis Island more than 90 years ago.
Tests of spatial ability
Wechsler (1939:138) assumed that performance tests provided an alternative means of
assessing general intelligence, whereas others have argued that they measure distinctive
kinds of nonverbal ability. However, the expression “performance test” is ambiguous
between (1) “a test that is administered without the use of linguistic communication”
(which implies that it must be scored through observation of the participants’ perfor-

Chapter 1.1. Early methods for assessing imagery and nonverbal abilities 
mance) and (2) “a test that is executed without the use of linguistic processing” (which
implies that their performance will not be affected by variations in their linguistic
abilities). It is nevertheless possible to dissociate the two.
An example of this is the cube imitation test, which was mentioned earlier (see
Figure 1). Knox (1914:742) himself described it as “one of the most valuable single
performance tests”. Pintner (1915) asked participants who had performed especially
well on this test how they had achieved this. Some said that they had mentally assigned
verbal labels such as numbers or letters to the four individual cubes and had then
remembered sequences of labels. Reymert and Hartman (1933) found this strategy
both in children and in adults. From interviews with large numbers of participants,
Stone (2002:8) concluded that the most common codes were: 1, 2, 3, 4; a, b, c, d; and
f, a, c, e (the names of the spaces in the treble clef).
In Knox’s version of the cube imitation test, the four cubes were actually painted
in different colours. This was not made explicit in Knox’s original descriptions, but it
is evident from one of the photographs in his Scientific American article (Knox 1918).
This provided yet another basis for assigning verbal labels; indeed, Rachofsky (1915)
reported that most participants tested using this apparatus had remembered the colour
names. Even when the cubes are all the same colour, verbal recoding seems to be a
common strategy in the cube imitation test. This is supported by the finding that per-
formance is impaired if the participants engage in the simultaneous articulation of
irrelevant speech sounds (Vecchi Richardson 2001).
For this reason, Corsi (1972) devised a cube imitation test that was less likely to
be vulnerable to verbal recoding. His apparatus contained nine black cubes that were
arranged in an irregular manner in two dimensions on a black rectangular board. The
cubes were identical to the participants but were numbered on the side facing the
examiner. Corsi used this apparatus to measure “spatial span” using a procedure sim-
ilar to the digit-span task. Similar tests have been widely used in subsequent research
(see Berch et al. 1998). Unlike Knox’s cube imitation test, performance on the “Corsi
blocks task” is not impaired if the participants engage in the concurrent articulation
of irrelevant speech sounds (Vecchi Richardson 2001).
Knox’s cube imitation test is an example of a performance test that can be carried
out using verbal processing. Conversely, some tests that are presented verbally can be
carried out using nonverbal or spatial processing. An early example is contained in the
study by Betts (1909) cited earlier. He asked a class of 28 psychology students to solve
the following problems:
1. A squirrel is clinging to one side of a tree, and a man is standing opposite on
the other side of the tree. The man walks around the tree, but the squirrel also
moves around the tree, so as to keep just out of the man’s sight. They continue this
movement until each has gone entirely around the tree. Has the man gone round
the squirrel,
a. in the sense of having been in front, behind, and on both sides of him?
b. In the sense of having been east, west, north and south of him?

 John T. E. Richardson
2. A three-inch cube, painted red, is sawn into inch cubes.
a. How many of the inch cubes have paint on three faces?
b. How many on two faces?
c. How many on one face?
d. How many have no paint on them? (70–71)
The majority of participants managed to solve these problems, and nearly all reported
using imagery to do so.
In general, then, the operational distinction between verbal tests and performance
tests does not map very neatly onto the functional distinction between verbal and
nonverbal processing. Although factor analyses of the scores obtained by large sam-
ples of participants on the Wechsler scales do typically identify separate “verbal” and
“performance” factors, some have found a third factor (variously described as “at-
tention/concentration” and “freedom from distractibility”), while in some clinical
populations there is evidence for yet a fourth factor that has been termed “process-
ing speed” (Spreen Strauss 1998:98–99). Attempts have been made to incorporate
this multifactorial structure into recent versions of the Wechsler scales.
Instead of relying upon an a priori classification of existing tests, some researchers
have followed Betts (1909) in trying to devise tasks that can plausibly only be carried
out by manipulating some visual or spatial representation rather than more abstract
linguistic information. These are usually described as tests of “spatial ability”, though
this is a rather vague, catch-all expression that covers a diverse collection of tasks. To
refine the concept, Linn and Petersen (1985) proposed the following classification:
1. In “spatial perception” tests, the participants are required to determine spatial
relationships with respect to the orientation of their own bodies in the face of
distracting information. Examples of this include the Rod and Frame Test and the
Water Level Test.
2. In “mental rotation” tests, the participants are required mentally to rotate two-
or three-dimensional figures quickly and accurately. Examples of this include
the Cards Rotation Test and the Spatial Relations subtest of the Primary Mental
Abilities Test. Other writers have called these tests of “spatial orientation”.
3. In “spatial visualisation” tests, the participants are required to solve problems by
manipulating complex spatial information through several discrete stages. Exam-
ples include the Embedded Figures Test and the Minnesota Paper Form Board.
Linn and Petersen found this classification helpful in making sense of the literature on
gender differences in spatial ability. They found that, in general, men tended to out-
perform women on spatial tests. However, the effects tended to be large and consistent
on tests of mental rotation, large but less consistent on tests of spatial perception, and
highly variable and often not statistically significant on tests of spatial visualisation.
Voyer et al. (1995) obtained similar results, but they found that gender differences
varied even between different tests of the same type. They concluded that Linn and

Chapter 1.1. Early methods for assessing imagery and nonverbal abilities 
Petersen’s classification of spatial tests was somewhat arbitrary and in need of further
refinement.
Nevertheless, the scores obtained on different tests of spatial ability tend to cor-
relate moderately well with one another, and they load on the same factor or factors
when factor analysis is applied to the scores obtained on a battery of such tests. On the
other hand, objective performance on tests of spatial ability does not show any con-
sistent relationships with subjective ratings of the vividness of experienced imagery
obtained by means of questionnaires of the sort reviewed in the first part of this chap-
ter, and the two sorts of instrument typically load on different factors in the results of
factor analyses (see McKelvie 1995; J. T. E. Richardson 1980:130–131).
These results suggest that the functional value or effectiveness of imagery in tests
of spatial ability is probably unrelated to the vividness of experienced imagery. This
would explain the relatively poor predictive value of the self-reported vividness of
mental imagery that was noted earlier. Nevertheless, the results obtained by Betts
(1909) suggest that tests of spatial ability do indeed implicate the use of imagery.
This needs to be tested not by measuring the quality of experienced imagery in gen-
eral among the participants, but by measuring the quality of the imagery that they
experience whilst they are carrying out a particular spatial task.
Barratt (1953) administered a battery of psychological tests to 180 schoolboys. Af-
ter each test, they were asked to look back through the test materials and to rate the
vividness, importance, and manipulability of the visual images that they had experi-
enced in tackling the various problems. Barratt compared the performance of the boys
whose combined imagery ratings fell in the highest 25% (whom he called “high im-
agers”) with the performance of the boys whose combined imagery ratings fell in the
lowest 25% (whom he called “low imagers”).
From the results of a pilot study, Barratt had found that the 12 tests fell into two
groups. One group was concerned with “spatial manipulation”; in Linn and Petersen’s
(1985) terms, it combined tests of mental rotation with tests of spatial visualisation.
The other group of tests was concerned with (nonverbal) reasoning. Barratt found that
the high imagers produced significantly higher scores than the low imagers on every
test of spatial manipulation, but there was no sign of any difference between the two
groups on any of the tests of reasoning. Similar results were found by other researchers
(Hiscock 1978; Lorenz Neisser 1985; A. Richardson 1977).
These results are of course correlational in nature, and it cannot therefore be in-
ferred that differences in experienced imagery gave rise to differences in performance.
For instance, it is possible that the subjects simply gave higher or lower ratings on the
basis of how successful they had been on each test (in which case differences in perfor-
mance would have given rise to differences in their reports of experienced imagery).
However, as Barratt himself pointed out, in this case it is extremely odd that a similar
correlation was not obtained in the case of his tests of reasoning. It is much simpler to
explain these findings by supposing that experienced imagery is employed in tests of
spatial manipulation but not in tests of reasoning.

 John T. E. Richardson
Conclusions
Questionnaires concerned with the characteristics of experienced imagery were widely
used for over a century. However, their application has declined in recent years, mainly
because subjective reports concerning the features of imagery in general are largely un-
related to performance in particular cognitive tasks. Instead, researchers have become
more interested in obtaining “on-line” accounts of imagery in particular situations.
“Performance” tests, too, have been used for nearly a century, and for most of
that time they have had an established role within intelligence testing. However, some
performance tests can be carried out using verbal processing, and some verbal tests
can be carried using nonverbal or spatial processing. Consequently, researchers are
less interested in performance tests in general than in particular tests of spatial ability.
The latter category contains a very diverse collection of tasks, but as a starting
point these can be classified as tests of spatial perception, tests of mental rotation, and
tests of spatial visualisation. Imagery seems to play an important role in at least some
of these. Performance is largely unrelated to the vividness of imagery in general but is
related to the quality of imagery experienced while carrying out the task.
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chapter .
The assessment of imagery and visuo-spatial
working memory functions in children
and adults
Irene C. Mammarella, Francesca Pazzaglia, and Cesare Cornoldi
Introduction
Experimental evidence has shown the involvement of visuo-spatial working mem-
ory (VSWM) in a large number of every-day tasks, such as generation, maintenance
and transformation of visual mental images (Kosslyn 1980), processing of visual and
spatial coordinates (Hanley, Young Pearson 1991), map learning and navigation
(Denis, Daniel, Fontaine Pazzaglia 2001; Garden, Cornoldi Logie 2002), draw-
ing and memory for the positioning of objects (Postma De Haan 1996; Zimmer,
Speiser, Seidler 2003). In Baddeley’s (1986) original model the system responsible
for the storage and processing of non-verbal information was the visuo-spatial sketch-
pad, or, following the naming used in more recent models (Logie 1995; Cornoldi
Vecchi 2003), visuospatial working memory (VSWM). Although there is converging
evidence supporting the multi-componential nature of the VSWM, so far there is no
agreement on the number and identity of its components. For example, Logie (1995)
distinguished between the visual cache, which temporarily stores visual information
(i.e. memory for objects, shapes or colours) and the inner scribe, for the rehearsal of
motor spatial sequences. Neuroanatomical data provide support for the distinction be-
tween a spatial and a visual component: Ungerleider and Mishkin (1982) proved that
the primates’ visual system can be differentiated in a “where” system, or dorsal stream,
processing spatial information and a “what” system, or ventral stream, processing the
features of perceived objects. Spatial-storage tasks activate cells in the dorso-lateral
prefrontal cortex of monkeys, while object-storage tasks activate cells in a more ventral
region of the prefrontal cortex (see Smith Jonides 1999, for a review). Walsh, Ellison,
Battelli and Cowey (1998), in a study using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS),
reported that subjects’ performance was disrupted by TMS applied over cortical area
V5, when the task required attention to motion, but was improved when motion
processing was irrelevant. Studies using the dual-task paradigm showed that reten-

 Irene C. Mammarella, Francesca Pazzaglia, and Cesare Cornoldi
tion of visual shapes or colours is disrupted by the presentation of irrelevant pictures
(Logie Marchetti 1991) or by dynamic visual noise (Quinn McConnell 1996),
whereas retention of location is interfered with by spatial tracking tasks (Baddeley
Lieberman 1980), spatial tapping tasks (Della Sala, Gray, Baddeley, Allamano Wil-
son 1999) and eye movement (Postle, Idzikowski, Della Sala, Logie, Baddeley 2006).
This fractionation between the visual and spatial working memory components is also
corroborated by neuropsychological evidence from patients showing a selective deficit
in the performance of either visual or spatial working memory tasks (Carlesimo, Perri,
Turriziani, Tomaiuolo, Caltagirone 2001; Luzzatti, Vecchi, Agazzi, Cesa-Bianchi,
Vergani 1998; Farah, Hammond, Levine, Calvanio 1988).
Moreover, regarding memory for object location, a further distinction was made;
according to Postma and De Haan (1996), the object location memory can be subdi-
vided into three separate processes: the first process requires encoding metric informa-
tion and the coordinates of a particular object located in the environment, the second
process, called object-location binding, requires linking the object’s identity to the its
position; finally, the last process integrates the first two mechanisms and combines
metric information with object identity and location (Kessels, De Haan, Kappelle,
Postma 2002a; Kessels, Kappelle, De Haan Postma 2002b). This distinction is
in agreement with that made by Kosslyn (1987) between exact metric coordinates
encoding and memory for the relative relation between objects (see also Landsdale
1998). Furthermore, studies regarding the specialized involvement of different brain
structures shows that the right hemisphere is important in processing metric spa-
tial information, whereas the left hemisphere participates in processing relative spatial
relations (Kosslyn, Koenig, Barett, Cave 1989).
Another fractionation in VSWM processing was suggested by Pickering, Gath-
ercole, Hall and Lloyd (2001). The authors distinguish between a static format, as
for example in a matrix in which locations are presented simultaneously, and a dy-
namic format, like in the Corsi test (Corsi 1972), where the reproduction of moving
paths between blocks is required. In their studies, participants were presented with
matrix and maze tasks in either a static or a dynamic format. The static version of
both tasks involved the presentation of static images on matrices or mazes, whilst the
dynamic version involved the presentation of squares presented one at a time in a
matrix, or required remembering a route traced by the experimenter in a maze. A
developmental fractionation in performance was found for static and dynamic con-
ditions, suggesting that a critical distinction may concern not the visual and spatial
properties of the tests, but the static and dynamic nature of the tasks, that tap different
subcomponents of VSWM.
Recently, Lecerf and de Ribaupierre (2005) proposed the existence of a differ-
ent way of processing visuospatial stimuli: extrinsic encoding important for anchoring
objects with respect to an external frame and intrinsic encoding based on the rela-
tion among items within a complex pattern. The latter involves a pattern encoding,
which leads to a global image of the stimulus and a path encoding, related to spatial-
sequential links created between different positions. Both static vs. dynamic (Pickering

Chapter 1.2. The assessment of imagery and visuo-spatial working memory functions 
et al. 2001) and pattern encoding vs. path encoding (Lecerf de Ribaupierre 2005)
share similarities with the distinction made by Pazzaglia and Cornoldi (1999) between
spatial-sequential and spatial-simultaneous processing: a spatial-sequential task re-
quires recalling spatial positions presented in a sequential format, i.e. one at a time
following the presentation order, whereas in a spatial-simultaneous task all the par-
ticipants have to recall positions presented simultaneously. They distinguished these
two spatial components from a visual one in which participants have to memorize ob-
jects with different shapes, colours and textures. These components are located in the
horizontal continuum of Cornoldi and Vecchi’s continuity model (2000, 2003) which
depends on the different types of material used in a task and, therefore, involves the
distinction between visual, spatial-sequential and spatial-simultaneous tasks.
The continuity model hypothesized another dimension, i.e. the vertical contin-
uum, involved in all tasks but requiring different degrees of active control; in this
framework a visual or a spatial-sequential task might be passive, if for example the
task requires recalling the visual properties of a picture, or a pathway, but may be ac-
tive, if the task requires subjects to actively manipulate the memory material in order
to produce an output different from the original input. In other words, the continuity
model proposes that each task could vary not only with respect to content-dependent
processes, but also with respect to the position in the vertical continuum, i.e. the degree
of control necessary to perform it.
The architecture of the VSWM is therefore still questionable and any of the pro-
posed viewpoints may be considered as definitive; moreover, for each model different
tests have been used leading to different results. For this reason, the specific choice of
tasks for the assessment of VSWM may be critical and there is need for the identifica-
tion and classification of VSWM tasks. In the next paragraphs we will review tests used
to assess VSWM and imagery and we will then focus on our VSWM battery.
Instruments and materials used to assess imagery and visuospatial memory
The specialized literature has generated a variety of measures to assess imagery and
visuospatial memory. Tasks can be divided into at least two categories (Bunton Fog-
arty 2003:1) subjective tasks, which are based on introspective reports, and include
qualitative and quantitative evaluations for assessing individual differences in imagery
and spatial abilities and 2) objective tasks, for collecting quantitative scores of the indi-
vidual’s performance in different imagery, memory or spatial tasks. An example of the
first category is represented by the Vividness of Visual Images Questionnaire (VVIQ)
(Marks 1973). Participants are required to judge, in two different modalities (imagin-
ing when eyes are open, and when eyes are closed), the vividness of scenes, situations or
details. Objective or indirect tests are visuo-spatial tests; classic examples of this kind of
tasks require the mental manipulation of visual shapes or the recall of spatial or visual
patterns. For example in a simple paper-pencil adaptation of the Mental Rotation Test
(Vanderberg Kuse 1978) a series of three-dimensional configurations composed by

 Irene C. Mammarella, Francesca Pazzaglia, and Cesare Cornoldi
cubes are administered. The task consists of choosing which cube, presented rotated
in depth, is the same as the given target item.
In a recent study, Burton and Fogarty (2003) examined the relationship between
visual imagery and spatial abilities with a confirmatory factor analyses. They used 40
different measures: 5 tasks classified as self-report questionnaires of visual imagery, in-
cluding the Comprehensive Ability Battery-Spatial (CAB-S; Hakstian Cattel 1975),
the Vanderberg and Kuse’s (1978) Mental Rotation Test1
and the Vividness of Im-
agery Questionnaire (VVIQ; Marks 1973); 26 markers of cognitive abilities comprising
measures of fluid and crystallized intelligence, speeded rotation tests (Thurstone
Thurstone 1965), closure speed and flexibility of closure tasks (Lohman, Pellegrino,
Alderton, Regian 1987), and visual memory tests (Ekstron, French, Harman, Der-
men 1976). They also included 7 experimental imagery tasks, as for example the Dot
Matrix task (adapted from Juhel 1991), in which participants were presented with four
dots on a 5x5 matrix and had to recall their positions on an empty matrix. Two cre-
ative imagery tasks were developed on the basis of the stimuli used by Finke, Pinker
and Farah, (1989) and involved the ability to mentally inspect or transform visual im-
agery; in particular, participants were instructed to begin with a starting pattern (for
example a B), then to imagine transforming the pattern in specified ways (rotate the
B 90 degrees to the left), adding another image (put a triangle below) and finally re-
port what the resulting pattern looked like (a love heart). Burton and Fogarty’s (2003)
confirmatory factor analysis supported the notion that all the tasks can be classified
along a continuum. The self-report imagery questionnaires are located on the left side
of the continuum, while the experimental tasks studying spatial-imagery and visual
memory can be located in the middle of the scale. In the right part of the contin-
uum they located Finke et al.’s (1989) creative imagery tasks, close to objective tests
of spatial abilities such as, for example, spatial intelligence tests, (the Primary Mental
Abilities; Thurstone Thurstone 1965 and the Raven’s Advanced Progressive Matrices;
Raven 1965), which are placed at the end of the scale. The effort of Benton and Fog-
arty (2003) is important because it offers a description of the relationships between
visual imagery, visuospatial memory and spatial abilities, but does not offer a specific
framework for VSWM.
As regards VSWM, we will describe in detail the tasks most used in the literature.
Pickering (2001), reviewing the literature, stressed the importance of the Corsi blocks
task (see Milner 1971; Corsi 1972; De Renzi Nichelli, 1975) and the Visual Pattern
Test (VPT) (Della Sala, Gray, Baddeley, Wilson 1997) as pure measures of VSWM.
The classical apparatus of the Corsi blocks task consists of nine cubes located irregu-
larly on a wooden board (see Berch, Krikorian, Huha 1998 for a review). The cubes
are numbered on the examiner’s side, and are tapped by the examiner in sequences of
increasing length. Participants are usually required to recall the blocks either in for-
ward or backward order. Differently from the digit span test, in the Corsi blocks task
administered with the classical apparatus, there is no clear difference between perfor-
mance on the forward and the backward version (e.g. Isaacs, Vergha-Khadem 1989).
The outcome of several studies (Vecchi Richardson 2001; Vandierendonck, Kemps,

Chapter 1.2. The assessment of imagery and visuo-spatial working memory functions 
Fastame, Szmalec 2004; Vandierendonck Szmalec 2005) have suggested that, in
disagreement with Pickering (2001), the backward version of the Corsi blocks task is
not a pure measure of VSWM. Vecchi and Richardson (2001), Vandierendonck, and
co-workers (2004) found a strong involvement of the central executive in the perfor-
mance of the Corsi block test. However, Mammarella and Cornoldi (2005b) found
that the performance on the backward version was based on the activation of spatial-
simultaneous processes. In Table 1 a classification of the visuospatial tasks used in the
literature and the hypothesized working memory components involved are reported.
The VPT (Della Sala et al. 1997) is composed of two-dimensional matrices in
which half of the cells are filled. Participants have to reproduce the location of the
filled cells in a completely empty matrix. According to Della Sala, and co-workers,
(1999; see also Logie Pearson 1997) the VPT involves visual working memory (the
visual cache), whereas the Corsi blocks task examines spatial working memory (the
inner scribe). However, these tasks, used (Logie Pearson 1997; Della Sala et al. 1999;
Pickering et al. 2001) to investigate the visual cache of Logie’s model (1995), seem
to involve spatial-simultaneous processes (Pazzaglia Cornoldi 1999). In fact, the
consideration of the VPT as a visual test may cause some perplexities given that this
test is characterised by the presentation of a series of matrices in which some of the
boxes are outlined in black and participants have to indicate on a blank matrix their
location: thus there is a request to recall locations which may only partially assume
visual form. These spatial-simultaneous processes can be distinguished from spatial-
sequential processes: where the position of each block pointed at by the examiner in
the Corsi blocks task needs to be sequentially encoded and retrieved in order to re-
produce the correct sequence; in this test the positions are presented sequentially and
the order is paramount. Also the dissociation observed by Della Sala and co-authors
(1999), who described two brain-damaged adults impaired in the performance of a
spatial task (the Corsi blocks task) but performing normally on the VPT, and a third
patient who showed the opposite pattern, can be interpreted as examples of a dissoci-
ation between spatial-sequential and spatial-simultaneous tasks, rather than a double
dissociation between visual and spatial tasks as suggested by Della Sala et al. (1999).
Another task examining visual and spatial memory (Logie 1995) derives from a
classical neo-piagetian task (the Peanut task, see for example de Ribaupierre Lecerf,
in press) and was used by Hamilton, Coates and Heffernan (2003) with the name “Mr.
Blobby” (see Figure 1). In the visual span format, participants have to remember the
locations of spots presented simultaneously and in the recognition phase they must
decide if the locations were the same or different to those presented initially. In the spa-
tial span task the green spots appear in sequence. The participants task is to determine
whether the sequence presented in the test phase is the same or different from that
observed during the recognition phase. Hamilton et al. (2003) found that the visual
span task reveals a relatively large developmental change in performance level, whereas
the spatial span task shows a more modest developmental change in performance in
participants aged between 5 and 25 years-old.

 Irene C. Mammarella, Francesca Pazzaglia, and Cesare Cornoldi
Table
1.
Tests
used
to
assess
VSWM
and
the
components
they
tap
into
according
to
the
authors
of
the
studies
and
according
to
the
Continuity
Model
(Cornoldi

Vecchi
2003)
Athors
Tests
VSWM
components
VSWM
components
according
according
to
the
authors
to
the
continuity
model
Vecchi

Richardson
(2001);
Backward
Corsi
test
Central
Executive
Spatial-simultaneous
processes
Vandierendonck
et
al.
(2004);
Pickering
et
al.
(2001)
Dynamic
Della
Sala
et
al.
(1997,
1999);
VPT
Visual
Passive
spatial-simultaneous
Logie

Pearson
(1997)
Visual
Pickering
et
al.
(2001)
Static
Hamilton
et
al.
(2003)
Mr.
Blobby
Visual
Passive
Spatial
Passive
spatial-sequential
Pickering

Gathercole
(2001)
Static
mazes
Static
Passive
Dynamic
mazes
Dynamic
Passive
spatial-sequential
Miyake
et
al.
(2001)
Forward
Corsi
test
Short-term
memory
tasks
Passive
spatial-sequential
Dot
Memory
task
Passive
Letter
Rotation
Working-memory
tasks
Active
visual
Dot
Matrix
task
Active
spatial-sequential
Oberauer
et
al.
(2000;
2003)
Dot
span
(similar
to
the
Forward
Corsi)
Storage
tasks
Passive
spatial-sequential
Pattern
Span
(similar
to
the
VPT)
Dot
Span
(dual)
Passive
Pattern
span
(dual)
Spatial
working
memory
task
Storage
+
processing
tasks
Active
spatial-sequential
Pattern
transformation
task
Active
Active
Active
visual
Chen
et
al.
(2003)
Item-series
shapes
Visual
Passive
Visual
Item-series
locations
Spatial
Passive
spatial-sequential
Zimmer
et
al.
(2003)
Object
locations
Visual
Passive
Cornoldi
and
co-workers
(2001,
2004,
2005)
VSWM
Selective
task
Active
spatial-sequential

Chapter 1.2. The assessment of imagery and visuo-spatial working memory functions 
Figure 1. An example of stimulus derived by Hamilton, Coates and Hefferman (2003).
Pickering and Gathercole (2001) built a working memory test battery for children
comprising 13 measures designed to tap the three working memory subcomponents
(Baddeley 1986). To assess the phonological loop they used digits, words and non-
words, and serial recall tasks. The non-words were introduced to have a short-term
memory measure free from long-term memory involvement (Hulme, Maughan
Brown 1991). Other measures of the phonological loop were the non-words repeti-
tion task, in which participants hear and then attempt to repeat single, multisyllabic
non-words and the words and non-words serial-recognition tasks, in which lists of
items were auditorily presented twice, with the second sequence containing the same
items as the first but, sometimes, with two items transposed. Children had to judge if
the two lists were the same or not.
Three measures of the central executive component were included in the battery
which simultaneously requested storing and processing information: the listening-
recall task, the counting recall and the backward Digit Span tests. The listening-recall
measure is a children’s version of the task developed by Daneman and Carpenter
(1980). In this task children have to judge if a series of sentences are true or false
and recall the final word for each sentence. In the counting recall (Case, Kurland
Goldberg 1982), children count the number of coloured dots presented and have to
then recall the tallies following a number sequence. The last central executive task is
the backward digit span, in which participants recall a series of digits in reverse or-
der (Wechsler 1974). Finally, the battery includes four tests to assess VSWM, i.e. the
computerised versions of the VPT (Della Sala et al. 1997) and of the Corsi blocks task
and two tests assessing memory for mazes; in the static and dynamic mazes, children
view a series of two-dimensional mazes which increase in complexity across trials. In
the static mazes, each figure includes a red pathway from the outside of the maze to
the central figure, and children are asked to recall the route by drawing it on the cor-

 Irene C. Mammarella, Francesca Pazzaglia, and Cesare Cornoldi
Figure 2. An example of the Dot Matrix task derived by Miyake et al. (2001).
responding maze; in the dynamic mazes the route is traced by the examiner’s finger in
full view of the child and the task consists of recalling the route in a response maze.
Other tasks used to assess VSWM were presented in a recent research by Miyake,
Friedman, Rettinger, Shah and Hegarty (2001) who, examining the relationship among
spatial abilities, visuospatial working memory and executive functioning, proposed a
series of tests to assess simple storage-oriented tasks (short-term memory span tasks)
and storage plus processing tasks (working memory span tasks). They used as short-
term memory span task, a computerised version of the Corsi blocks task and the Dot
Memory task, in which participants are presented with 5×5 matrices with a number of
dots comprised between two and seven. After the grid presentation, participants have
to recall on an answer sheet the dots’ locations. The two working memory span tasks
administered by Miyake et al. (2001) were the Letter Rotation and the Dot Matrix task;
in the first task, participants have to decide if a capital letter is being presented in a
normal or in a mirror rotation postition and remember its spatial orientation; in the
Dot Matrix task each trial contains a set of to-be-verified matrix equations (for exam-
ple, an addiction or a subtraction of lines into a grid of 3×3 dots) followed by a 5×5
matrix containing a dot in a particular cell (See Figure 2). The participants must verify
the matrix equation and simultaneously remember the dot’s location. Confirmatory
factor analyses shows that both short-term and working memory span tasks involve
executive functioning.

Chapter 1.2. The assessment of imagery and visuo-spatial working memory functions 
Also Oberauer and co-workers (Oberauer, Suβ, Shulze, Wilhelm, Wittman
2000; Oberauer, Suβ, Wilhelm, Wittman 2003) used tasks assessing storage and
storage plus processing in VSWM.2
The two storage tasks were similar to the Corsi
task (the Dot task required a reproduction of locations sequentially presented) and
to the VPT (the Pattern Span task required a reproduction of filled locations simul-
taneously presented). In one of the storage plus processing tasks (the Dot Span-dual)
participants had to decide if some partially filled 3×3 matrices were symmetrical or
not and then remember the presentation order of dots in different locations. The Pat-
tern Span (dual) required remembering the positions of filled squares in a matrix and
pressing different keys depending on whether an arrow appeared facing up or down
in the figure. Another storage plus processing test (the Spatial working memory task)
was a spatial equivalent of the reading span test (Daneman Carpenter 1980). The
task requires rotating a pattern either to the left or to the right and remembering a se-
ries of simple patterns (realized by partially filling the cells of a 3×3 matrix). Oberauer
et al. (2003) also used the Pattern transformation task (Mayr Kliegl 1993), requiring
a comparison between the left and the right half of a screen presenting configurations
of four or eight objects different in form (square or circle), size (small or big), border
colour (black, white, grey) and colour of the entire figure (black, white, grey). Partici-
pants had to identify the feature in which only one of the objects on the right differed
from its counterpart on the left. With a series of structural equation models Oberauer
et al. (2003) showed that the distinction between verbal and spatial working mem-
ory was less important than the distinction between different operations in working
memory, i.e. storage plus processing, coordination and supervision tasks.
Many other VSWM tasks have been proposed in the literature; for example, Chen,
Hale and Myerson (2003) proposed a series of tasks to study retention intervals and
information load in young and older people. Amongst the tasks used there was the
Item Series-Shapes. During the study phase of this task participants are sequentially
presented with two or three un-nameable shapes, whilst during the test phase they
are presented with the same shapes plus a new one which participants are required
to identify. In the Item Series-Locations, each trial involves the presentation of 4×5
matrices where 5 or 6 “X”s appear sequentially in different cells. In the response ma-
trix the same set of “X”s is presented simultaneously, but one of the “X”s appears in
a cell located near its original location. Participants are required to identify the “X”
that is in the new location. Zimmer, Speiser and Seidler, (2003) devised a test to in-
vestigate memory for object location (the Relocation VSWM task) which consists of
9x9 matrices in which objects or artificial figures are located. Participants are required
to remember the figures’ locations (see Figure 3). Zimmer et al. (2003) found that the
Corsi blocks and the relocation VSWM task tapped different memory mechanisms.
A task developed in our labs assessing active spatial-sequential working mem-
ory is the VSWM selective task. Different manipulations of this test have been used
depending on the population involved in the studies, for example ADHD children
(Cornoldi, Marzocchi, Belotti, Caroli, De Meo Braga 2001), children with men-
tal retardation (Lanfranchi, Cornoldi Vianello 2004), visuospatial learning disabled

 Irene C. Mammarella, Francesca Pazzaglia, and Cesare Cornoldi
Figure 3. An example of the Relocation VSWM task devised by Zimmer Speiser and Seidler
(2003).
children (Mammarella Cornoldi 2005a) and older adults (Cornoldi, Bassani, Berto
Mammarella, in press). The basic procedure involves the presentation of a number
of 4×4 matrices in which the experimenter sequentially points to three positions in
each matrix. Participants are presented with a series of consecutive matrices. In the
test phase, within an empty matrix, participants have to indicate the last position in-
dicated by the experimenter for each matrix. The participant’s secondary task is to tap
on the table only in correspondence to a set of predetermined cells. Typically, results
show that learning disabled children and older people manifest specific error patterns
involving the previously presented information (intrusion errors) due to a difficulty in
the control of irrelevant information in VSWM.
It is worth noting that some instruments reported here are based on a self-
terminating procedure in that the score attributed to each participant is equivalent to
the most complex series that he/she is able to correctly recall. For example in the Corsi
blocks task, a participant is usually tested initially with sequences of three locations,
if the performace is correct, s/he is then tested with four and if again successful with
five locations. However if s/he is not able to remember five locations it is concluded
that the participant’s spatial span is 4. This procedure has some practical advantages:
first, the test’s administration time is relatively short; second, with particular groups
of subjects, for example children or older-people, the participant is not annoyed or
frustrated by the presentation of overly complex and ultimately useless items. Third,
the experimenter can immediately attribute a score to the participant and interpret it.
The Visuospatial Working Memory Test Battery (BEMViS)
As outlined above, many tasks have been devised to measure VSWM; however, most
of them cannot be easily compared and classified. The BEMViS battery (Mammarella,

Chapter 1.2. The assessment of imagery and visuo-spatial working memory functions 
Figure 4. The structure of the test and of the WM components involved in BEMViS battery.
Cornoldi Pazzaglia 2004), was devised in order to offer a more systematic tool for
the examination of VSWM. The battery involves a further selection and refinement
of tasks developed in our labs and already presented in preceding publications (see
in particular Cornoldi Vecchi 2003) or derived from the literature and adapted to
our aims. A main advantage of the BEMViS battery is that all the tasks are clearly
classified on the basis of a simple model and its administration, based on the self-
terminating procedure, is easy and rapid. The battery is composed of 13 tests, with
3 control tests assessing verbal working memory (See Figure 4) and 10 VSWM tests.
The measures are based on Cornoldi and Vecchi’s working memory model (2003) dis-
tinguishing between active vs. passive processes (vertical continuum) and visual vs.
spatial-simultaneous vs. spatial-sequential tasks (horizontal continuum). Apart from
these 13 paper-pencil tests, the battery includes 6 additional computerized tasks for an
in depth analysis of the more problematic areas identified in preceding tests.
Each task comprises trials of increasing levels of complexity (3 items per level)
and, to achieve the next level, participants have to correctly solve at least two items out
of three. Usually, tests start from the second level and each solved item receives a score
equal to the level in which the item is included, so that items at the second level have a

 Irene C. Mammarella, Francesca Pazzaglia, and Cesare Cornoldi
Table 2. The table shows an example of scoring for the test battery. Each participant re-
ceived scores equal to the sum of the three highest items solved in a particular test. In this
example the participant obtained 5 + 4 + 4 = 13. The scoring was constant for all tests in
the battery.
LEVEL Item A Item B Item C
2 RIGHT RIGHT /
3 RIGHT WRONG RIGHT
4 RIGHT (4) RIGHT (4) /
5 WRONG RIGHT (5) WRONG
value of 2, items at the third level a value of 3, and so on. Final scores are the sum of the
three most complex items solved. For example, if a participant performs successfully
in two items at the third level, two at the fourth and one at the fifth, then his/her score
will be 4 + 4 + 5 = 13 (See Table 2 for an example).
We will start by describing the 13 VSWM paper and pencil tests, distinguishing
between visual, spatial-sequential, spatial-simultaneous and verbal tests. Successively
we will describe the other 6 computerized tests.
Visual tests
The House Recognition test (Passive task). The test is classified as visual since it requires
remembering well defined visual forms. More specifically, the stimuli consist of draw-
ings of schematic houses (See Figure 4). Because the verbal label for each item is the
same, verbal memory cannot offer relevant support. This task is the only one in the
battery which involves a recognition procedure within a memory test for complex fig-
ures, thus implying a distinction between memory recall and recognition. In this task,
at the second level, a set of two houses is shown for 2 seconds. Immediately after pre-
sentation, the participant has to recognise the target houses within a set of 4 stimuli.
For each subsequent level, the number of to-be-recognised houses increases, as do the
number of new houses amongst which the familiar ones are placed. More specifically
the number of new houses introduced corresponds to the number of target houses
used at that level. Level two will involve two to-be-recognised houses plus two new
ones, level 4 will involve 4 to-be-recognised houses plus 4 new ones presented dur-
ing the test phase. The level of complexity is defined as the number of houses to be
recognized (from 2 to 6).
The Signs Reproduction test (Passive task). In this task, participants are presented
with stimuli composed of a series of simple signs adapted from Cornoldi Gruppo
MT (1992). Each stimulus is displayed for 3 seconds before being removed from view
and replaced by a blank response sheet. Participants are required to reproduce the signs
with the same shape and direction. The level of complexity is defined by the number
of to-be reproduced signs.
The Jigsaw Puzzle task (Active task) (adapted from Vecchi Richardson 2000) is
based on drawings derived by Snodgrass and Vanderwart (1980), and fragmented into

Chapter 1.2. The assessment of imagery and visuo-spatial working memory functions 
between two and ten numbered pieces forming a puzzle. Drawings represent common,
inanimate objects with a high familiarity value and image agreement. To minimise
the memory load, the pieces of each puzzle are randomly displayed in front of the
participant and remain available for inspection during the entire testing period. Par-
ticipants have to resolve the puzzle not by moving the pieces but by writing down (or
pointing at) the corresponding number of each piece on a response sheet. The level of
complexity is given by the number of pieces composing each puzzle.
Spatial-sequential tasks
Dynamic Mazes (Passive task) (adapted from Pickering, Gathercole, Peaker 1998).
Our version of the Dynamic Mazes used by Pickering and colleagues to assess dynamic
memory comprises mazes of increasing difficulty in which the route to be recalled is
traced by the examiner’s finger in full view of the participant who must subsequently
draw the route through a corresponding blank maze.
The Corsi Blocks test (Passive task) (adapted from Corsi 1972). In this task, as
already mentioned, participants are required to reproduce a series of sequentially pre-
sented locations. In our battery we included only the forward version of the Corsi
blocks task, due to the complex and not univocal implications of the backward version.
The Pathway Span task (Active task). Participants are required to mentally visual-
ize a pathway followed by a little man moving on a blank matrix. The starting point
is the same for each level and is positioned in the left square of the bottom row. If the
task is administered to little children that do not understand left-right references, the
experimenter can use points of reference in the room in which the task is being ad-
ministered. At the end of a series of statements regarding directions indicated by the
experimenter (i.e. forward, backward, left or right), participants have to indicate the
man’s final position in the matrix. The complexity of the task varies according to the
size of the matrix (from 2×2 to 6×6) and the length of the pathway.
Spatial-simultaneous tests
The Visual Pattern test (VPT) (Passive task) (adapted from Della Sala et al. 1997). Par-
ticipants are presented for 3 seconds with random square matrices created by filling
half of the squares of a grid. The grids are of increasing size, for example in the sec-
ond level, the grids include 6 squares with 3 filled cells, and in the last level 22 squares
with 11 filled cells. In the presentation phase, participants memorise the filled squares;
after 3 seconds, the initial stimulus is removed and participants are presented with an
identical blank test matrix in which they have to indicate the previously filled squares.
Static Mazes (Passive task) (adapted from Pickering et al., 1998). In the Static
Mazes task, participants are presented with mazes with a red line extended from the
outside to the central figure. Each maze is displayed for three seconds before being re-
moved from view and is replaced by an identical maze that does not show the route.
Participants have to draw the route shown in the study item.
The Dots Reproduction test (Passive task). This task comprises a series of dots or-
dered in different locations in a blank sheet. The level of complexity ranges from a

 Irene C. Mammarella, Francesca Pazzaglia, and Cesare Cornoldi
minimum of one dot to a maximum of eight dots on a sheet. Each stimulus is dis-
played for three seconds before being removed from view and being replaced by a
blank response sheet. The participant’s task is to draw the dots in the exact location; if
a dot is drawn with a diameter of more than 5 cm from the target stimulus, the trial is
considered incorrect.
The Visual Pattern Test, Active Version (VPTA) (Active task) (adapted from Della
Sala et al. 1997). The only difference between this test and the classic VPT is the active
processing required for solving the task; participants are asked to reproduce the pattern
in a completely blank matrix by filling the cells corresponding to the positions in a row
below the row filled in the presentation matrix. For example, if in the presentation
matrix the second cell in the first row is filled, the participant’s task is to fill the cell in
the second row (in the presentation matrices the last row is always completely blank).
Verbal Working Memory tests
The Digit Span Test (forward and backward versions). The tests involve the presentation
of spoken sequences of digits for immediate serial recall. The sequences vary from 3
to 9 digits in the forward version and from 2 to 8 in the backward version (see Wech-
sler’s procedure 1974). The forward version of this test is used to evaluate the passive
processing of verbal working memory and the backward version the active one.
The Syllables Span Test (Passive task). In this test, participants are auditorily pre-
sented with sequences of syllables. The three trials of sequences vary in length: from
two to nine syllables. The procedure is the same described for the Digit Span test. The
participants’ task is to listen and then to repeat the syllables in the same order. The
Syllables Span Test is considered a measure of passive verbal working memory.
Studies carried out with the use of the BEMViS battery
The first systematic use of the BEMViS battery concerned developmental groups.
More specifically, two studies (Mammarella, Cornoldi Pazzaglia 2004; Mammarella,
Cornoldi Pazzaglia, in preparation) were aimed at collecting norms for each test in
a sample of children aged between 7 to 12-years old, examining the battery’s internal
reliability, and verifying the validity of the distinction among visual, spatial-sequential
and spatial-simultaneous and between the active and passive components in VSWM.
In a third study (Mammarella, Cornoldi, Pazzaglia, Toso, Grimoldi, Vio, in press)
single cases of children with visuo-spatial difficulties were analysed in order to indi-
viduate selective deficits in spatial-sequential and spatial-simultaneous components.
Results reported here are based on Mammarella et al.’s study (in preparation; see
also Mammarella et al. 2004), but refers to only a part of the entire sample. 300 chil-
dren (87 second-graders, 39 third-graders, 58 fourth-graders and 116 fifth-graders),
were presented with all the 13 paper and pencil verbal and visuospatial working
memory tests.

Chapter 1.2. The assessment of imagery and visuo-spatial working memory functions 
Table 3. Internal reliability on the VSWM tasks (N = 300)
Houses Signs Puzzle Dynamic Corsi Pathway VPT Static Dots VPTA
Cronbach α .68a .83◦
.89 .83 .85 .92 .84 .85 .76a .90
Note: a N = 162 ◦
N = 235.
In Table 3 the alpha-Cronbach values for the 10 VSWM tests are shown. Scores of
the visuospatial tests were sufficiently high, ranging from α = .68 (Houses Recognition
Test) to α = .92 (Pathway span task), reflecting a high degree of internal reliability
within the VSWM test battery.
The structure of the VSWM was tested on the first data collected by Mammarella
et al. (2004) using structural equation modelling (SEM, McDonald Moon-Ho Ring
Ho 2002). The main question asked was whether the visuospatial tests of our bat-
tery could be effectively used for testing different visuospatial components. The FIT
indexes of different models were compared, paying particular attention to the compar-
ison between a one-factor model with a unique latent variable named VSWM derived
from the observed measures of the whole VSWM battery, and several two-factor mod-
els. Each of these distinguished between two of the VSWM components described in
Cornoldi and Vecchi’s continuity model. The two-factor models tested by the structural
equations modelling examined the distinction between active and passive tasks (see
Figure 5) and the existence of at least three separate components in the VSWM’s hori-
Figure 5. The active vs. passive model. Single-headed arrows represent standardized factor
loadings. The numbers at the ends of the smaller arrows are errors terms. The double-
headed arrows indicate correlations between latent variables.

 Irene C. Mammarella, Francesca Pazzaglia, and Cesare Cornoldi
Figure 6. The simultaneous vs. sequential model.
Figure 7. The visual vs. sequential model.
zontal dimension: simultaneous vs. sequential (Figure 6), visual vs. sequential (Figure
7), visual vs. simultaneous (Figure 8). Differently from the one-factor model, which
had a significant χ2
value and no adequate fit indices, all the two-factor models had no
significant χ2
values, indicating that the models’ predictions did not deviate from the
actual data patterns, and had adequate fit indices.3

Chapter 1.2. The assessment of imagery and visuo-spatial working memory functions 
Figure 8. The visual vs. simultaneous model.
As already mentioned, spatial-simultaneous vs. spatial-sequential and visual vs.
spatial-sequential distinctions mirror analogues distinctions, already present in the
literature and, in particular, the distinction between a spatial component, involv-
ing memory for sequential pathways and movements, and a second component,
defined either as visual (Logie 1995), or static (Pickering Gathercole 2001), or
spatial-simultaneous (Pazzaglia Cornoldi 1999). Interestingly, this latter compo-
nent, tapped by tasks which require the memorization of positions of items located
in space, was, in our study, distinguishable from a pure visual component, measured
by tasks which required memorization of drawings and differently oriented signs.
Application of the battery to the analysis of single cases with visuospatial deficits
The BEMViS battery was administered to three non-verbal (or visuospatial) learn-
ing disabled children (for a description of these children see Rourke 1989) diagnosed
on the basis of the descriptions offered by Cornoldi, Venneri, Marconato, Molin and
Montinari (2003; see also Mammarella Cornoldi (2005b).
According to Cornoldi et al. (2003), children exhibiting visuospatial learning dis-
abilities (VSLD) typically show learning difficulties involving processing and learning
of nonverbal material, a discrepancy between verbal and spatial intelligence (at least
10 IQ points) and failure in cognitive neuropsychological tests involving visuospatial
abilities. A critical factor underlying VSLD children’s difficulties seems to be related
to deficits in visuospatial working memory (Cornoldi, Dalla Vecchia Tressoldi 1995;
Cornoldi, Rigoni, Tressoldi Vio 1999; Mammarella Cornoldi 2005b).

 Irene C. Mammarella, Francesca Pazzaglia, and Cesare Cornoldi
In the three cases reported by Mammarella et al. (in press), the assessment of the
VSWM was based on the BEMViS battery; the results highlighted different patterns,
with selective deficits in one or more of the VSWM components. A performance was
considered poor if the child’s score was below the mean normative score of more
than 1.5 standard deviation. We identified two children with problems on spatial-
simultaneous processes and one with a spatial-sequential impairment. In particular,
L.P. performed 1.5 S.D. below the mean score on a series of spatial-simultaneous tasks
(the two versions of the VPT, the Static Mazes and Dots Reproduction test), whereas
the performance on spatial-sequential tasks (Pathway Span task, Dynamic Mazes and
Corsi Blocks test) was relatively good. A similar pattern of results was observed in F.S.,
who obtained poor scores on three tasks assessing spatial-simultaneous memory (VPT
active and classic version and Static Mazes) but did not obtain poor scores on spatial-
sequential and visual tasks. On the contrary, B.L.’s performance revealed impairments
on sequential tasks (Pathway span and Corsi tasks) but not on simultaneous ones.
Tests for a more in depth assessment
A second, shorter battery is currently in preparation with the objective of creating
instruments for a more in depth analysis of single cases with specific impairments
detected by the first battery. This battery is also based on the distinction between
the visual, spatial-sequential and spatial-simultaneous components, but only includes
recognition tasks. In particular, we designed two computerised tests for each dimen-
sion: the Non-sense Shapes and the Little-fish recognition tasks, which require de-
ciding if a series of non-sense figures (derived from Vanderplas Garvin 1959) or
the fish-shaped textures are identical or not to a previously presented series. In the
Light-bulbs recognition task and in the Sequential-dots test (spatial-sequential tasks),
participants are asked to recognise if the order in which the information is presented
is the same in the recall phase as in the presentation phase. Finally, in the two spatial-
simultaneous tasks, the Dot matrix recognition task and the Simultaneous-dots test,
participants have to decide if a series of positions presented simultaneously are differ-
ent to those presented in a previous phase.
In this shorter battery, scores are attributed in the same way as in the BEMViS
test battery, but all the tests have the same structure, and in particular, participants
are always asked to decide if a series of figures are the same or different from those
previously presented. All the tests go from the second to the eighth level and each level
contains 3 items. These tasks together with other tests already in use (as for example the
backward Corsi blocks and the VSWM Selective-task, Cornoldi, et al. 2001) represent
accurate tools for a more in depth analysis of VSWM deficits.
In conclusion, the VSWM battery together with other tests offers the possibil-
ity of an extensive assessment of the visuospatial components of working memory.
The tests here presented are useful instruments for researchers and clinical psychol-
ogists because the experimenter can either administer the battery entirely or select

Chapter 1.2. The assessment of imagery and visuo-spatial working memory functions 
only certain tasks that tap a specific component. These tasks can also be employed
for a diagnosis of VSWM problems in patients with brain damage or learning dis-
abilities and, in particular, for visuospatial learning disabled children. In fact with the
BEMViS battery and the additional tests it is possible to identify specific sub-types
of deficits within the working memory components. For example, Cornoldi, Rigoni,
Venneri and Vecchi (2000) found a double dissociation between passive storage and
active processing in two VSLD children. Their results suggest that it is possible to
identify selective deficits involving specific groups of tasks. Moreover, Mammarella,
Cornoldi and Donadello (2003) showed that children with spina-bifida had an im-
paired visual memory when tested with the House Recognition test, but revealed
normal scores on spatial-simultaneous (VPT) and spatial-sequential (Corsi task) tests.
These results not only support a distinction between active and passive processing and
between visual, spatial-simultaneous and spatial-sequential memory, but also suggest
that the tests included in our battery could be useful to discriminate between specific
visuospatial deficits.
Conclusions
In conclusion, the VSWM system seems to be more complex than initially suggested. A
review of the psychological instruments used for assessing VSWM and imagery showed
that a unitary approach to the study of visual and spatial abilities does not exist in
the literature. Although a series of instruments based on validated theoretical distinc-
tions have been proposed revealing high discriminative power, results are not always
in agreement and different approaches or theories lead to different interpretations. In
our view a classification of VSWM tasks according to their active vs. passive processing
request and with reference to the visual vs. spatial-simultaneous vs. spatial-sequential
components could help to better understand the structure of the VSWM and to more
accurately assess VSWM deficits.
Notes
. In the Burton and Fogarty (2003) study, the Mental Rotation Test, (Vanderberg Kuse 1978)
was considered as a self-report measure, in the same manner of the CAB-S Questionnaire (Hak-
stian Cattel 1975), the QMI Questionnaire (Sheenan 1967), the TVIC (Richardson 1969) and
the VVIQ (Marks 1973).
. We reported only the tasks classified by Oberauer and co-workers (2000, 2003) as tapping
visual and spatial working memory components and involving storage or storage and transfor-
mation processing.
. Active vs. passive: χ2
(13) = 19.72, p = .11, CFI = .99, RMSEA = .04, AIC = 49.72; si-
multaneous vs. sequential: χ2(8) = 12.88, p = .12, CFI = .99, RMSEA = .05, AIC = 38.88;

 Irene C. Mammarella, Francesca Pazzaglia, and Cesare Cornoldi
visual vs. sequential: χ2(8) = 11.15, p = .19, CFI = .99, RMSEA = .04, AIC = 37.15; visual vs.
simultaneous: χ2(8) = 12.31, p = .14, CFI = .99, RMSEA = .04, AIC = 38.13.
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députation... Il m'a garanti cent voix de ses créatures au collége de
Redon... Les élections approchent... Quand je serai député, du
diable si je ne lui joue pas quelque bon tour!
Il agita la sonnette, placée à côté de lui.
—Ma course sur la lande m'a donné grand appétit, reprit-il, mais
je n'ai pas perdu ma peine... Blanche est en lieu de sûreté
maintenant... et mon arc a toutes les cordes qu'il faut.
Un domestique se montra à la porte.
—Commandez qu'on me prépare à souper, dit Robert.

—C'est déjà fait..., répliqua le valet; notre monsieur avait donné
l'ordre qu'on le servît au salon.
—C'est bien..., dit Robert. Je me contenterai du souper de notre
monsieur... Allez!
Le domestique sortit.
Robert se frottait les mains et riait dans sa barbe.
—Le pauvre diable!... pensait-il; le pauvre diable!... Allez donc
sauver les gens qui se noient!... Pardieu! ce vieux fou de Benoît
Haligan parlait comme un livre, après tout!... et la morale de la
chose est qu'il faut laisser les gens couler comme des plombs au
fond de l'eau.
Second éclat de rire, pendant lequel une main se posa, par
derrière lui, sur son épaule.
C'était M. Blaise, vêtu d'un très-bel habit bourgeois, et qui riait,
lui aussi, de tout son cœur.
—Nous sommes gais!... dit-il en prenant place à côté de son
ancien maître.
—Et je crois que nous en avons sujet, mon fils!... repartit Robert.
Je pensais justement à toi... Je me disais: Voilà un garçon qui doit
me garder de la reconnaissance!...
—Ah!... fit Blaise, tu te disais cela?...
—Oui... Le fait est que le bien t'est venu en dormant, mon
bonhomme!... J'aurais pu admirablement me passer de toi.
—J'ai fait de mon mieux..., dit Blaise avec une humilité feinte; j'ai
été un domestique fidèle, soumis, dévoué...
—La perle des valets!... interrompit Robert.

—Et j'ai été encore, poursuivit Blaise, un observateur attentif, un
confident discret, un espion adroit.
—Le roi des marauds, enfin!... s'écria Robert, c'est juste... Va, je
ne veux pas diminuer ton mérite!... Sois sûr que ta part du gâteau
sera suffisante et honnête.
L'Endormeur approcha son siége et prit un air important.
—C'est précisément sur ce sujet-là que je voulais te toucher un
mot ou deux, dit-il. De quelle manière entends-tu les partages, toi,
Américain?
—Ma foi, mon fils, j'avoue que tu me prends sans vert... Je n'ai
pas encore songé à cela... Entre nous, comme bien tu penses, il ne
peut pas y avoir de difficultés.
—Assurément non!... Cependant j'ai toujours entendu dire que
les bons comptes font les bons amis. On peut discuter un petit peu
sans se fâcher... D'abord, je te ferai observer que nous ne sommes
pas restés dans les termes de notre premier programme... C'était
vingt mille francs de rente chacun que nous devions avoir, si tu t'en
souviens...
—Dame! fit Robert; je suis presque content de te voir établir toi-
même des différences...
—De très-grandes! interrompit Blaise.
—D'accord!... J'ai fait toute la besogne et tu t'es reposé.
Blaise fourra ses deux mains dans ses poches, et croisa ses
jambes pour s'étendre commodément sur le dossier de son fauteuil.
—Mon bonhomme, dit-il, je vois que tu es porté à introduire de
l'aigreur dans notre causerie amicale... Si tu as mal aux nerfs, tant
pis pour toi!... Moi je suis de bonne humeur et je continue avec une
entière bienveillance. Il ne s'agit pas ici de nos mérites respectifs,
mais bien des parts qui doivent nous revenir dans la succession de

Penhoël... Quand j'ai dit que les circonstances avaient changé, c'est
que je vois ici deux héritiers nouveaux, et peut-être trois...
—Qui donc?
—D'abord Pontalès... Ensuite, ce laid coquin de Macrocéphale...
Enfin, notre chère Lola, qui ne voudra point, sans doute, s'en aller
les mains vides...
—Qu'y faire?
—Voilà!... Diviser le patrimoine en deux portions égales... La
première sera pour M. le marquis, lequel se chargera de
récompenser maître Protais le Hivain à sa fantaisie... L'autre sera
pour nous.
—Et Lola?...
—Elle sera la maîtresse d'un Pontalès quelconque qui la payera
ou qui ne la payera pas, je m'en bats l'œil... Quant à notre pauvre
part de vingt mille livres de rente, il y aura dix mille francs pour toi
et dix mille francs pour moi...
—Mais..., voulut objecter Robert.
—Attends donc!... Ceci en principe... Mais, car moi aussi j'ai mon
mais, mais durant l'espace de trois années consécutives, j'aurai la
libre disposition de notre fortune indivise, parce que, suivant nos
conventions, je serai le maître, et toi le domestique.
Robert le regarda bouche béante.
—Tu veux railler? balbutia-t-il.
—Non pas du tout!... de ma vie je n'ai parlé plus sérieusement!...
Mon brave, il n'y a dans les marchés que ce qu'on y met... Le soir où
nous fîmes ce bon repas à l'auberge du vieux Géraud sur le port de
Redon,—quelle omelette! mon bonhomme... et quel gigot!... non,
c'était une épaule,—tu me promis en propres termes d'être mon

domestique pendant le même espace de temps que je t'aurais
servi...
—Et tu es assez fou pour espérer...? commença Robert en
fronçant le sourcil.
—Une simple observation..., interrompit l'Endormeur avec
gravité: les rapports nouveaux que nous allons avoir ensemble
exigent, à mon avis, de nouvelles formes... S'il m'en souvient bien,
tu exigeas de moi autrefois le sacrifice de certaines façons
familières... aujourd'hui je te rends la pareille, et franchement tu ne
peux pas m'en vouloir...
Robert avait grand'peine à contenir son impatience.
—Quand tu auras fini..., dit-il.
—Encore tu!... s'écria l'Endormeur... Américain, mon fils, vous
avez la tête dure... et je commence à craindre de voir notre petite
discussion dégénérer en une mauvaise querelle!
Blaise ne souriait plus.
—Voyons..., dit Robert, qui commençait à s'inquiéter, je t'accorde
tes dix mille francs de rente, bien que ce soit absurde... Nous ne
sommes pas en position de faire un éclat.
—Vous, peut-être, mon ancien seigneur... Mais moi, cela m'est
parfaitement égal!... Écoutez donc!... chacun a ses petites
faiblesses... Depuis trois ans, je songe tous les jours au plaisir que je
me donne en ce moment... Vrai, ajouta-t-il en se prenant à rire, trois
ans ce n'est pas trop... car je m'amuse comme un bienheureux!
Robert avait la tête basse et semblait réfléchir.
—Et quand je songe que j'ai trois ans à m'amuser ainsi, reprit
Blaise, ma parole, je ne me sens pas de joie!
Robert jeta un regard de côté vers l'épée de l'oncle Jean, qui
restait à portée de sa main.

Blaise ne perdit point ce mouvement.
—Oh! oh! fit-il, je croyais que nous n'étions pas en position de
faire un éclat!...
La lèvre de Robert tremblait; il était tout blême de colère.
—Blaise!... Blaise!... dit-il d'une voix altérée, ma patience a des
bornes...
—Moi, voilà trois ans que je patiente, répliqua l'Endormeur dont
le calme semblait imperturbable.
—Tu sais bien que tu demandes l'impossible!... Et ce jeu doit
cacher autre chose... En deux mots, que veux-tu?
—Voilà qui est parler!... s'écria l'Endormeur; mon bonhomme, tu
as été bien longtemps à me comprendre... On m'a promis vingt mille
livres de rente: je veux vingt mille livres de rente.
—Et moi?... dit Robert qui baissait les yeux pour tâcher de
dissimuler sa colère.
—Je n'entre pas dans tes affaires personnelles, mon fils... Sur les
vingt mille livres de rente qui restent, tu t'arrangeras avec M. le
marquis de Pontalès, avec maître Protais le Hivain, avec notre chère
Lola et même avec le Bibandier, s'il y a lieu.
—C'est ton dernier mot?... demanda Robert à voix basse et les
dents serrées.
—C'est mon dernier mot..., répondit l'Endormeur, et je te promets
que je n'en démordrai pas!... Tu me donneras tout, ou bien,
morbleu! je mangerai seul le bon souper que tu as commandé, et tu
me serviras à table!
—Allons!... dit Robert qui affecta un mouvement de gaieté, je
vois bien qu'on ne peut pas raisonner avec toi ce soir... Il faut tâcher
de s'arranger autrement.

Tout en prononçant ces paroles avec un accent de bonne
humeur, Robert de Blois jouait avec le pied de la lampe. Au beau
milieu de son sourire, sa main glissa, rapide comme l'éclair, et saisit
sur la table l'épée de l'oncle Jean.
Mais l'Endormeur était sur ses gardes. Si rapide qu'eût été le
mouvement, quand Robert se retourna pour frapper, il vit son
camarade debout au milieu de la chambre et tenant à la main l'épée
du maître de Penhoël.
—Oh! oh! mon bonhomme! dit Blaise qui tomba en garde assez
gaillardement; on te connaît depuis le bout de l'oreille jusqu'à la
plante des pieds... Tu triches toujours, c'est ton caractère... mais, au
jeu que nous allons jouer, à ce qu'il paraît, on ne peut pas filer la
carte.
Robert s'était levé. Il n'était peut-être pas brave dans l'acception
héroïque du mot, mais il avait ce qu'il fallait de sang-froid et de
fermeté pour défendre à l'occasion son intérêt ou sa vie.
—Je te préviens que c'est un duel à mort, dit-il en marchant sur
Blaise avec précaution.
—C'est tout ce que tu voudras, mon fils... répliqua l'Endormeur.
Dieu merci! j'ai cinq ans de salle.
Ils n'étaient pas encore à portée l'un de l'autre. Robert s'arrêta et
se mit en garde à son tour.
—Une dernière fois, dit-il, je te propose la paix.
—Moi, répondit Blaise, je te propose une place de valet de
chambre auprès de ma personne... sinon je réclame le payement de
mes gages pour trois années de service, lesquels gages j'évalue à la
somme de deux cent mille francs.
Il n'y avait plus à parlementer. Les pointes des deux épées se
joignirent tout doucement. Ce fut comme une caresse.

Ce combat ne ressemblait guère à celui qui avait eu lieu peu
d'instants auparavant, à la même place. Les deux adversaires se
montraient également prudents.
Ils firent tour à tour une demi-douzaine de passes à distance;
quand l'un d'eux se fendait, par aventure, il restait bien six pouces
entre la pointe de son épée et le corps de l'adversaire.
Et pourtant l'assaut s'animait; ils frappaient du pied vaillamment,
comme à la salle d'armes, et l'on entendait un grand cliquetis de fer.
De loin un myope aurait pu penser que c'était une bataille
acharnée et terrible.
Au moment où le bruit de ferraille allait le mieux, un gros rire
éclata tout à coup de l'autre côté de la chambre.
Les deux épées se baissèrent à la fois.
La porte par où Robert et Blaise étaient entrés dans le salon
venait de s'ouvrir. Sur le seuil on apercevait la taille longue et maigre
de Bibandier. L'ancien uhlan se tenait les côtes et riait à gorge
déployée.
—Ah! ah! ah! s'écria-t-il dès qu'il put parler; la maîtresse farce!...
Voilà deux bons garçons qui se battent comme des diables pour un
héritage qui leur passera sous le nez!... Ah! ah! ah!... Et pour un
souper qu'un autre mangera!
Robert et Blaise restaient tout décontenancés.
L'ancien uhlan, fossoyeur de la paroisse de Glénac, fit quelques
pas à l'intérieur de la chambre. Il tenait à la main des papiers.
—Restez dehors si vous avez peur!... cria-t-il à la cantonade; je
promets bien qu'ils ne me tueront pas... Ma parole! reprit-il en
s'adressant aux deux combattants, vous êtes drôles à croquer
comme cela!... Ah! M. Robert, j'irai te voir à la chambre, bien sûr,
quand tu seras député... Ah çà! l'Endormeur, nous voulons donc

avoir vingt bonnes petites mille livres de rente qui ne doivent rien à
personne. Et, sur le reste, l'Américain pourra s'arranger avec le vieux
marquis, avec M. de la Chicane, etc... etc..., et enfin avec le
Bibandier, s'il y a lieu... Laissez là vos joujoux, mes enfants; nous
allons parler d'affaires sérieuses.
Blaise et Robert se regardaient. Le préambule n'annonçait rien de
bon.
Bibandier s'installa dans le fauteuil, auprès de la table.
—Mes amours, dit-il, je m'applaudirai toute ma vie de vous avoir
évité la peine de vous embrocher comme des dindons que vous
êtes... Quand vous me ferez des yeux de tigre pendant une heure,
ça ne changera rien à l'histoire!... Voyez-vous, il n'y a pas moyen de
faire les méchants ici, ce soir...
—Mais que signifie donc tout cela?... s'écria Robert; je ne vous
avais jamais vu si insolent, mons Bibandier!
—Américain, dit l'ancien uhlan, la nature chatouilleuse de mon
caractère ne me permet pas de continuer l'entretien sur ce ton... Ah!
ah! ah!... se reprit-il en éclatant de rire, j'ai envie de prendre, moi
aussi, une de ces vieilles flamberges, et nous mènerons la danse à
trois... Mais c'est assez folâtrer... Viens te mettre à ma droite,
l'Endormeur... Américain, prends place à ma gauche... Il s'agit d'une
communication officielle.
Robert et Blaise s'approchèrent machinalement.
—M. le marquis de Pontalès, poursuivit Bibandier, a bien voulu
me donner auprès de vous une mission de confiance... Il m'a dit:
«—Mon ami Bibandier, je répugne à voir ce Robert et ce
Blaise...»
—Comment!... s'écrièrent ceux-ci en même temps.

—Si vous m'interrompez, nous n'en finirons pas... M. le marquis
m'a donc dit:
«—Mon ami Bibandier, épargne-moi la peine de voir ces deux
coquins de Robert et de Blaise!...»
—Ah!... fit M. de Blois, Pontalès a dit cela!...
—Comme j'ai l'honneur, mon fils... Et je crois bien que c'est pure
modestie... Le marquis, tout en vous comblant de bienfaits, veut se
soustraire aux marques de votre reconnaissance... Jugez-en... Il m'a
dit encore:
«—En définitive, ces drôles m'ont été d'une certaine utilité... Je
prétends qu'ils ne s'en aillent pas les mains vides.»
—Nous en aller!... se récria Blaise.
Et Robert ajouta en raillant à son tour:
—Ah çà! M. le marquis croit donc que nous sommes gens à tirer
les marrons du feu pour nous laisser ensuite mettre à la porte
comme des enfants?
—Le marquis est un fameux lapin, M. Robert!... dit l'ancien uhlan
avec emphase; et s'il mange les marrons à lui tout seul, vous devez
encore vous estimer heureux qu'il veuille bien vous en jeter les
pelures!...
—C'est ce qu'il faudra voir!...
—C'est tout vu!... Pour en revenir, Pontalès m'a chargé de vous
dire qu'il a besoin de son manoir de Penhoël... et qu'il serait flatté de
vous voir disparaître ce soir même.
—Il faut que le brave homme soit tombé en enfance! murmura
Robert qui véritablement ne comprenait rien à cet acte d'hostilité
brutale. Le manoir est à nous bien plus qu'à lui... Nous possédons
des contre-lettres dont les doubles se trouvent entre les mains de
maître le Hivain.

—Les doubles, et les originaux aussi..., riposta Bibandier.
—Du tout!
—Si fait! c'est moi-même qui ai crocheté votre secrétaire ce soir...
Pas de jeux de mains, M. Robert, ou j'introduis dans la discussion un
argument nouveau.
Sa main droite, qui était passée sous le revers de sa veste de
paysan, sortit armée d'un pistolet de taille recommandable.
—Causons comme des amis, reprit-il, et ne nous emportons pas
avant de savoir... Je gagne ma vie, que diable!... Si vous aviez été
les plus forts, soyez certains que j'aurais travaillé pour vous... car je
n'ai pas de rancune, moi... et je ne me souviens déjà plus des
grands airs malhonnêtes que vous avez pris avec moi pendant trois
ans. Voici donc une chose entendue... Il ne faut plus compter sur
vos contre-lettres.
—Nous avons d'autres moyens..., dit Robert. Et si Pontalès nous
pousse à bout!...
—Mes amours, vous serez doux comme des agneaux!... C'est moi
qui vous en réponds!... Je vous dis que ce vieux Pontalès est un
lapin de première force!... Et un brave homme... car il vous propose
une indemnité, lui qui pourrait vous renvoyer tout bonnement
comme des vagabonds.
—Quelle indemnité?... demanda Blaise.
—Une dizaine de jolis billets de mille francs à partager entre
vous.
—Juste la moitié d'une année de notre revenu!... se récrièrent à
la fois les deux amis; c'est de la démence.
—Acceptez-vous?
—Jamais!... dit Robert.

—J'aimerais mieux m'aller pendre!... ajouta Blaise.
—Ancien style!... fit observer Bibandier; la guillotine a remplacé
cette forme féodale et vieillie... Plaisanterie à part, mes garçons,
vous ne comprenez pas du tout votre situation... Permettez-moi de
mettre sous vos yeux de légers documents que ce finaud de
Pontalès a fait venir de la capitale.
Il déplia l'un des papiers qu'il tenait à la main.
—Premier document:
«Extrait des rôles de la préfecture de police. Bureau des
renseignements.
«Robert Camel...»
La surprise arracha un cri à Robert.
Blaise et lui changèrent à ce moment de visage. Jusqu'alors ils
avaient cru pouvoir combattre à armes égales.
«... Robert Camel,» reprit Bibandier, «dit Wolf, dit Belowski, dit
l'Américain, à cause du genre de vol auquel il se livre habituellement.
Origine inconnue; vingt-huit ans; repris de justice; trois
condamnations en police correctionnelle et deux en cour d'assises;
condamné en 1815 pour vol qualifié à cinq ans de reclusion; s'est
évadé de la Force au bout d'un mois, et n'a pu être ressaisi par la
justice...»
—Deuxième document:
«Extrait des rôles de la préfecture de police. Bureau des
renseignements.

«Blaise Jolin, dit l'Endormeur, à cause du genre de vol auquel il
se livre habituellement...»
Bibandier se mit à rire:
—Vous avez comme ça, tous deux, des habitudes, mes chéris!...
dit-il.
«... Auquel il se livre habituellement; repris de justice; condamné
par contumace le 5 janvier 1816 à dix ans de travaux forcés, à la
marque et à l'exposition...»
L'ancien uhlan replia soigneusement ses papiers pour les mettre
dans sa poche.
Robert et Blaise avaient la tête basse; ils semblaient atterrés.
—Mauvais ragoût!... dit Bibandier, dix ans et le pilori... tu as tout
de même bien fait de t'évanouir, l'Endormeur!... Mais ne nous
perdons pas dans des digressions inutiles, comme disait le gros
avocat qui m'a envoyé à Brest... Il nous reste à savoir s'il vous plaît,
M. Robert, de faire vos quatre ans et neuf mois de reclusion... et si
vous éprouvez le besoin, M. Blaise, de purger votre contumace?...
Les deux amis gardaient le silence. C'était là un coup aussi rude
qu'inattendu. Blaise, surtout, qui s'était cru au sommet des
prospérités, retombait à plat et se sentait incapable de résistance.
Robert essaya du moins de faire tête à l'orage.
—Tout cela est très-bon..., dit-il en relevant sa tête blêmie, et je
devine la part que vous y avez prise, mon vieux camarade... Mais si
nous sommes perdus, Pontalès pense-t-il être à l'abri?
—Oh! oh!... répondit Bibandier, quand vous le pincerez, celui-
là!...

—On peut essayer!... Ce qui s'est passé la nuit de la Saint-
Louis...
—Pas de témoins! interrompit Bibandier.
—Il y en avait un, du moins.
—Oui... c'est vrai... Mais je suis tout seul à le connaître... et M. le
marquis me paye.
Robert fit un geste de rage impuissante.
—Quoi qu'il arrive, s'écria-t-il, nous résisterons!... Nous ne
sommes pas encore sous la main de la justice, et nous avons le
temps de nous retourner.
—Pas beaucoup..., dit l'ancien uhlan avec douceur.
—Donnons-nous la main, Blaise, reprit Robert en se tournant
vers son camarade. Nous sommes unis, n'est-ce pas, maintenant?...
A nous deux, nous le mènerons loin, je vous jure, votre marquis de
Pontalès!...
—Oui... oui..., balbutia l'Endormeur; je ferai tout ce que tu
voudras!
—Ah!... s'écria Robert, on croit nous tenir!... A l'appui de ces
belles menaces, M. le marquis aurait dû nous montrer quatre
gendarmes...
—Il y en a huit à l'office..., répondit Bibandier en souriant; c'est
l'Endormeur qui a été les chercher à Redon.
Robert se tourna vivement vers Blaise, qui murmura en se
frappant le front:
—C'était au cas où les paysans se seraient révoltés pour les
maîtres de Penhoël.

Robert ne dit plus rien; il était vaincu. Dans le silence qui se fit,
on entendit la petite toux sèche de Macrocéphale, qui attendait
toujours derrière la porte.
—Patience! lui cria Bibandier; voilà qui est fini.
Il tira de sa poche un portefeuille et compta sur le coin de la
table dix billets de banque de mille francs.
—Mes amours, reprit-il, on ne vous demande même pas de reçu,
tant est grande la confiance que vous nous inspirez... Seulement
votre signalement est donné à toutes les gendarmeries du
département... Si vous êtes encore dans les environs au lever du
soleil, vous pourrez bien éprouver quelques désagréments... En vue
de ce danger qui vous menace, je vous ai fait préparer deux
excellents chevaux, lesquels vous attendent de l'autre côté de l'eau.
—Partons!... dit Robert qui prit cinq des billets étalés sur la table.
Blaise serra les cinq autres d'un air désespéré.
—Nous nous entendons bien, poursuivit Bibandier; si fantaisie
vous prenait de revenir, coffrés en deux temps, sans rémission!...
Les deux amis se dirigèrent vers la porte. Bibandier se leva pour
les reconduire poliment.
—J'espère que nous n'avons pas de rancune, leur dit-il chemin
faisant; en somme, je vous ai réconciliés, mes petits... Chacun
gagne son pain comme il peut, vous savez bien... Et, tenez! j'espère
que je vous rejoindrai bientôt là-bas, à Paris... Nous ferons encore
plus d'une bonne affaire ensemble. A vous revoir, mes braves!... Ah!
j'oubliais... maître le Hivain, qui n'ose pas entrer de peur des épées,
et qui vous a joué le présent tour, me prie de vous dire qu'il ne
mourra pas content à moins de se faire hacher en mille pièces pour
votre service!...
Robert et Blaise avaient disparu.

Quelques instants après, un domestique entra, portant le souper
commandé par le maître de Penhoël. Bibandier et maître Protais le
Hivain s'attablèrent gaiement.
C'était plaisir de les voir se frotter les mains et rire, avant
d'attaquer la succulente poularde qui fumait au milieu de la table.
—Il fallait bien que ce souper-là fût mangé enfin par quelqu'un!...
dit Macrocéphale.
—A votre santé, M. de la Chicane! riposta Bibandier en versant
deux pleines rasades. Nous sommes les maîtres ici pour ce soir!
Chacun d'eux porta son verre à ses lèvres; mais, au lieu de boire,
ils se levèrent vivement et avec respect.
M. le marquis de Pontalès, qui était entré sans bruit, venait de se
mettre à table.
L'ancien uhlan et l'homme de loi restaient debout, le verre à la
main, tout décontenancés.
Pontalès avait sur le visage son bon petit sourire, doucement
moqueur.
Il attira la poularde et se servit une aile.
Le Hivain et Bibandier attendaient qu'il leur dît de s'asseoir.
Pontalès mangea son aile de volaille et but un verre de vin avec
un plaisir manifeste.
Puis il partagea entre ses deux compagnons un signe de tête
protecteur.
—Je suis content de vous, mes enfants... dit-il avec sa tranquille
bonhomie. Allez manger un morceau à l'office...

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