Undergraduate students who were given specific instructions to form mental images while reading a text passage containing spatial information scored significantly higher than the control group on a drawing posttest. Significant correlations also resulted between the test scores and both reading time and use of imagery. The use of imagery instructions seems to influence the quality of the mental representation and therefore the ability to construct more accurate drawings of the information described in text. Drawing an object from memory is a task that requires the generation of an image in the working memory and reflects the quality of the mental representation. Thus, the use of imagery instructions can be a valuable strategy for learning when the information contains important spatial information. (25 references) (Author/DB)