This study examined the effectiveness of observable visual imagery strategy for the encoding of verbal information with special attention given to the relative effectiveness of the strategy for field-dependent and field-independent learners. The subjects, 54 undergraduate and graduaute students ranging in age from 20 to 54, were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups: (1) computer-presented text without visuals or rehearsal strategies (control); (2) text accompanied by line drawings presented on a handout; or (3) text with visual imaging tasks corresponding to the line drawings in the second treatment. Learning was measured through four criterion tests--drawing, identification, terminology, and comprehension--which were designed to measure achievement of different objectives, and the effects were measured for subjects identified as field-dependent or field-independent on the basis of the Embedded Figures Test. The total criterion test score means indicated that field-independent subjects benefitted most from presented line drawings and scored markedly lower when required to engage in the observable visual imagery strategy. In contrast, field-dependent subjects scored higher when required to engage in the observable visual imagery rehearsal. Statistical analyses and a list of nine references are appended. (MES)