Abstract
Three experiments were conducted to examine better performance in long-term memory when stimulus items are pictures or spoken words compared to printed words. Hypotheses regarding the allocation of attention to printed words, the semantic link between pictures and processing, and a rich long-term representation for pictures were tested. Using levels-of-processing tasks eliminated format effects when no memory test was expected and processing was deep (E1), and when study and test formats did not match (E3). Pictures produced superior performance when a memory test was expected (E1 & 2) and when study and test formats were the same (E3). Results of all experiments support the attenuation of attention model and that picture superiority is due to a more direct access to semantic processing and a richer visual code. General principles to guide the processing of stimulus information are discussed.
References
1978). The trouble with levels: A reexamination of Craik and Lockhart’s framework for memory research. Psychological Review, 85, 139–152.
(1974). Depth of processing pictures of faces and recognition memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 103, 751–757.
(2002). Paradoxical effects of presentation modality on false memory. Memory, 10, 55–61.
(2002). Deconfounding serial recall. Journal of Memory and Language, 46, 153–177.
(2002). Levels of processing: Past, present, and future. Memory, 10, 305–318.
(1982). Aging and cognitive deficits: The role of attentional resources. In , Aging and cognitive processes (pp. 261–280). New York: Plenum.
(1972). Levels of processing: A framework for memory research. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 11, 671–684.
(1975). Depth of processing and the retention of words in episodic memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 104, 268–294.
(1972). Visual and auditory memory. In , Language by ear and by eye: The relations between speech and learning to read (pp. 251–275). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
(1974). Age differences in incidental learning. Developmental Psychology, 10, 936–941.
(1979). Processing depth, elaboration of encoding, memory stores, and extended processing capacity. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory, 5, 472–484.
(2005). Presentation format effects in working memory: The role of attention. Memory and Cognition, 33, 499–513.
(2001). Modality effects in false recall and false recognition. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 27, 339–353.
(1983). The auditory recency advantage in longer term free recall is not enhanced by recalling prerecency items first. Memory and Cognition, 11, 616–620.
(1988). Exploring long-term modality effects: Vocalization leads to best retention. Memory & Cognition, 16, 110–119.
(2002). Presentation format and its effects on working memory. Memory and Cognition, 30, 1096–1105.
(1980). Processing of visually presented clock times. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 6, 707–717.
(1985). Constraints on the long-term modality effect. Journal of Memory and Language, 24, 526–541.
(1986). Recency effects in delayed recall of mouthed stimuli. Memory and Cognition, 14, 355–360.
(1988). When do interleaved suffixes improve recall?. Journal of Memory and Language, 27, 560–571.
(1969). The differential effects of incidental tasks on the organization of recall of a list of highly associated words. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 82, 472–481.
(1984). Conceptual masking: The effects of subsequent visual events on memory for pictures. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 10, 115–125.
(1985). Levels of processing and picture memory: The physical superiority effect. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 11, 284–298.
(1978). Flexibility and capacity demands of attention. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 107, 420–435.
(2001). Presentation modality and mode of recall in verbal false memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 27, 913–919.
(2005). Conscious control and memory awareness when recognizing famous faces. Memory, 13, 449–457.
(1980). Image and mind. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
(1981). Strategies in sentence-picture verification: The effect of an unexpected picture. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 20, 515–531.
(1987). Why a diagram is (sometimes) worth ten thousand words. Cognitive Science, 11, 65–99.
(2002). Levels of processing, transfer-appropriate processing, and the concept of robust encoding. Memory, 10, 397–403.
(2002). A comparison of conscious and automatic memory processes for picture and word stimuli: A process dissociation analysis. Consciousness and Cognition, 11, 423–460.
(2002). Organization: What levels of processing are levels of. Memory, 10, 333–338.
(1977). Levels of processing versus transfer appropriate processing. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 16, 519–533.
(1979). Remembering pictures and words: Appearance, significance, and name. In , Levels of processing in human memory (pp. 45–76). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
(1977). Encoding strategy and sensory and semantic interference. Memory and Cognition, 5, 462–467.
(1975). Perceptual comparisons through the mind’s eye. Memory and Cognition, 3, 63–647.
(1978). A dual coding approach to perception and cognition. In , Modes of perceiving and processing information (pp. 39–51). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
(1977). Picture-word differences in decision latency, An analysis of single and dual memory models. Memory and Cognition, 5, 383–396.
(1989). Modality effects and the structure of short-term verbal memory. Memory and Cognition, 17, 398–422.
(1976). Visual dominance: An information-processing account of its origins and significance. Psychological Review, 83, 157–171.
(1980). Tracing the time course of picture-word processing. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 109, 373–392.
(2002). Limits and province of levels of processing: Considerations of a construct. Memory, 10, 339–343.
(1998). Picture or word superiority effects in implicit memory: Levels of processing, attention, and retrieval constraints. Swiss Journal of Psychology, 57, 33–46.
(