The picture superiority effect in associative recognition

The picture superiority effect has been well documented in tests of item recognition and recall. The present study shows that the picture superiority effect extends to associative recognition. In three experiments, students studied lists consisting of random pairs of concrete words and pairs of line drawings; then they discriminated between intact (old) and rearranged (new) pairs of words and pictures at test. The discrimination advantage for pictures over words was seen in a greater hit rate for intact picture pairs, but there was no difference in the false alarm rates for the two types of stimuli. That is, there was no mirror effect. The same pattern of results was found when the test pairs consisted of the verbal labels of the pictures shown at study (Experiment 4), indicating that the hit rate advantage for picture pairs represents an encoding benefit. The results have implications for theories of the picture superiority effect and models of associative recognition.

[1]  Francis T. Durso,et al.  Naming and remembering proper and common nouns and pictures. , 1983 .

[2]  M. A. Borges,et al.  Recall and recognition of words and pictures by adults and children , 1977 .

[3]  E. Heit,et al.  Associative Recognition: a Case of Recall-to-reject Processing , 2022 .

[4]  A. Paivio,et al.  Imagery versus meaningfulness of nouns in paired-associate learning. , 1968 .

[5]  Mary Susan Weldon,et al.  FAILURE TO FIND THE PICTURE SUPERIORITY EFFECT IN IMPLICIT CONCEPTUAL MEMORY TESTS , 1996 .

[6]  W. Hockley,et al.  Strength-based mirror effects in item and associative recognition: Evidence for within-list criterion changes , 2007, Memory & cognition.

[7]  B. Wasser,et al.  On the fate of visual and verbal memory codes for pictures and words: Evidence for a dual coding mechanism in recognition memory , 1974 .

[8]  M. C. Smith,et al.  Tracing the time course of picture--word processing. , 1980, Journal of experimental psychology. General.

[9]  J G Snodgrass,et al.  Storage and retrieval properties of dual codes for pictures and words in recognition memory. , 1975, Journal of experimental psychology. Human learning and memory.

[10]  A. Paivio,et al.  Why are pictures easier to recall than words? , 1968 .

[11]  J T Wixted,et al.  On the nature of associative information in recognition memory. , 2001, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[12]  A. Yonelinas.  Recognition memory ROCs for item and associative information: The contribution of recollection and familiarity , 1997, Memory & cognition.

[13]  V. S. Reed,et al.  Pictorial superiority effect. , 1976, Journal of experimental psychology. Human learning and memory.

[14]  S. Madigan,et al.  Representational storage in picture memory , 1974 .

[15]  T. Curran,et al.  Memory for detail in item versus associative recognition , 2001, Memory & cognition.

[16]  Tim Curran,et al.  Retrieval constraints and the mirror effect , 1994 .

[17]  R. Greene.  Recognition memory for pseudowords , 2004 .

[18]  James F. Juola,et al.  Stimulus encoding and decision processes in recognition memory , 1974 .

[19]  K. Malmberg,et al.  On the flexibility and the fallibility of associative memory , 2007, Memory & cognition.

[20]  K. Malmberg,et al.  Modeling the effects of verbal and nonverbal pair strength on associative recognition , 2007, Memory & cognition.

[21]  R. Shiffrin,et al.  An ARC-REM model for accuracy and response time in recognition and recall. , 2001, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[22]  P. M. Burns,et al.  The effect of repeated tests on recognition memory for pictures and words , 1978 .

[23]  R. Ratcliff,et al.  Time course of item and associative information: implications for global memory models. , 1989, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[24]  H. Roediger,et al.  Altering retrieval demands reverses the picture superiority effect , 1987, Memory & cognition.

[25]  F. Craik,et al.  Levels of Pro-cessing: A Framework for Memory Research , 1975 .

[26]  G. Kimble,et al.  Recognition memory for words and pictures at short and long retention intervals , 1976, Memory & cognition.

[27]  W. Hockley,et al.  Does CHARM Need Depth? Similarity and Levels- of-Processing Effects in Cued Recall , 2004 .

[28]  Joan Gay Snodgrass,et al.  Recognition memory for words, pictures, and words + pictures , 1972 .

[29]  Neil A. Macmillan,et al.  Detection Theory: A User's Guide , 1991 .

[30]  Caren M. Rotello,et al.  Recall-to-Reject in Recognition: Evidence from ROC Curves ☆ ☆☆ , 2000 .

[31]  H L Roediger,et al.  The properties of retrieval cues constrain the picture superiority effect , 1989, Memory & cognition.

[32]  William E. Hockley,et al.  Item versus associative information: Further comparisons of forgetting rates. , 1992 .

[33]  Leif R. Hedman,et al.  The picture superiority effect in a cross-modality recognition task , 1995, Memory & cognition.

[34]  R. Greene.  Mirror effect in order and associative information: Role of response strategies. , 1996 .

[35]  C. Rotello,et al.  Strong memories obscure weak memories in associative recognition , 2004, Psychonomic bulletin & review.

[36]  M. Potter,et al.  Time to understand pictures and words , 1975, Nature.

[37]  A. Paivio,et al.  Picture superiority in free recall: Imagery or dual coding? , 1973 .

[38]  John C. Yuille,et al.  Imagery, memory, and cognition : essays in honor of Allan Paivio , 1984 .

[39]  M Glanzer,et al.  The mirror effect in recognition memory , 1984, Memory & cognition.

[40]  J. G. Snodgrass,et al.  The picture superiority effect: support for the distinctiveness model. , 1999, The American journal of psychology.

[41]  J. G. Snodgrass,et al.  A standardized set of 260 pictures: norms for name agreement, image agreement, familiarity, and visual complexity. , 1980, Journal of experimental psychology. Human learning and memory.

[42]  Francis T. Durso,et al.  The effects of orienting tasks on recognition, recall, and modality confusion of pictures and words , 1980 .

[43]  Patrick Bonin,et al.  A new set of 299 pictures for psycholinguistic studies: French norms for name agreement, image agreement, conceptual familiarity, visual complexity, image variability, age of acquisition, and naming latencies , 2003, Behavior research methods, instruments, & computers : a journal of the Psychonomic Society, Inc.

[44]  Allan Paivio,et al.  Imagery in recall and recognition. , 1976 .

[45]  R. Shiffrin,et al.  Pairs do not suffer interference from other types of pairs or single items in associative recognition , 2004, Memory & cognition.

[46]  M. Humphreys,et al.  Relational information and the context effect in recognition memory , 1976, Memory & cognition.

[47]  V. S. Reed,et al.  Learning to Order Pictures and Words: A Model of Sensory and Semantic Encoding. , 1977 .

[48]  T. Wright,et al.  A Picture Memory. , 2003 .

[49]  J. Wixted,et al.  On the difference between strength-based and frequency-based mirror effects in recognition memory. , 1998, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[50]  M. Humphreys.  Item and relational information: A case for context independent retrieval , 1978 .

[51]  William E. Hockley,et al.  Reflections of the mirror effect for item and associative recognition , 1994, Memory & cognition.

[52]  H Intraub,et al.  Levels of processing and picture memory: the physical superiority effect. , 1985, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.