A study examined the status of research on effects of pictorial advertising and areas within the field which need additional work. The method of investigation was based on a model of memory, incorporating emotional, semantic, and episodic processing of information--focusing primarily on constructing a preliminary taxonomy of visual stimuli, a visual vocabulary for photographically produced images as used in the American culture in 1987. Three variables in the processed image--color, lighting, and camera angle--serve as examples of components of the taxonomy which are separately investigated. Results showed that the culture in which a person lives is a mediating variable between the observer and the perception. The three taxonomic categories can be applied to intercultural perceptual differences. Future testing will be facilitated by computer-based photographic image editing equipment such as Scitex or Hell, which makes it possible to insert or remove selected parts of photographs, modify colors within a photograph, and integrate multiple images. (One figure and 44 references are attached.) (RAE)