[Disappearance of "the modality effect" and its reinstatement by the continuous distractor paradigm]

Two experiments were conducted to study "the modality effect", to say, whether auditory presentation gives rise to larger recency effect than visual presentation. Both experiments consisted of presenting 11 undergraduate students with lists of 10 items in visual or auditory modality. The first experiment showed that this effect was eliminated when recall was delayed by oral distractor activity. The second experiment demonstrated that "the modality effect" was obtained on the continuous distractor paradigm in which each list item was preceded and followed by a period of oral distractor activity. Although the same distractor activity as that in the first experiment was used in the second experiment, "the modality effect" was reinstated by the continuous distractor paradigm. These results suggest that the PAS and other "echoic" theories are inadequate for explanations of "the modality effect".