Cj. Vaidya et Jde. Gabrieli, Picture superiority in conceptual memory: Dissociative effects of encodingand retrieval tasks, MEM COGNIT, 28(7), 2000, pp. 1165-1172
We examined the role of encoding processes for picture superiority in expli
cit and conceptual-implicit memory. The nature of encoding instruction (nam
ing or semantic categorization) yielded dissociative effects on picture and
word memory on one explicit test, category-cued recall, and two conceptual
-implicit tests, category-cued generation and category-cued verification. C
ategory-cued recall was greater for pictures than for words following namin
g, but it did not differ for pictures and words following semantic categori
zation. Category-cued generation priming was greater for pictures than for
words following naming, but it was greater for words than for pictures foll
owing semantic categorization. In contrast, category-cued verification prim
ing did not differ for pictures and words following either naming or semant
ic categorization. Thus, picture superiority can be eliminated or reversed
depending on the type of conceptual encoding task and conceptual-retrieval
test.