To determine if imagery mediates memory for signs and words, 80 sign-language-fluent Ss -- half of whom were congenitally deaf and half of whom were normal-hearing -- were tested by varying the imagery values of stimuli. The relative efficacy of word and sign codes in processing and retrieving information was studied by systematically varying the mode of presentation and the mode of retrieval of information, thus producing four conditions of the experiment: sign-sign, sign-word, word-sign, and word-word. Among the findings were that there was an overall performance difference in recall between deaf and hearing students, with hearing Ss doing better than deaf Ss; and that, more importantly, there was an overall imagery effect which showed that imagery facilitated memory for words and signs for both deaf and hearing Ss. This facilitating effect was, however, absent in the word-sign condition for both groups. Findings suggested that words and signs are processed in a similar fashion. (Author/DLS)