ABSTRACT
The adaptive functions of dual coding systems were discussed from the psychological perspective in Chapter 4. Recast here in neuropsychological terms, they highlight once again the cooperative independence principle of DCT. Independence means that verbal and nonverbal neural systems can be active separately or conjointly. Cooperation is possible because the neural representations can activate each other via their interconnections. Cooperative independence implies (a) additive benefits of verbal and nonverbal neural activation in some tasks, (b) selective reliance on one system when it is especially relevant to a given task, and (c) switching back and forth between them according to changing task demands. We have seen that such implications have widespread support from psychological research. Relevant neuropsychological evidence is sparser and less systematic, but what is available buttresses aspects of DCT and is interesting in its own right. The following review samples the overlapping domains of memory, anticipation, evaluation, motivation and emotion, problem solving, and communication.
