Verbal overshadowing of memories for fencing movements is mediated by expertise

Does verbalizing a previously-seen complex visual stimulus influence its subsequent recollection? We investigated this question by examining the mediating role played by expertise level in fencing on the effects of verbalizing upon visual memory. Participants with three distinct levels of expertise in fencing (novices, intermediates, experts) performed seven trials. In each trial, they first watched four times a short video that displayed fencing movements. Then, half of them verbalized the previously-seen visual stimulus (i.e., the verbalization group), the other half carried out a hidden-word task (i.e., the non-verbalization group). Finally, all the participants were asked to recognize the previously-seen fencing movements amongst novel fencing movements. Overall, verbalizing improved recognition for novices, altered recognition for intermediates, and had no effect for experts. These findings replicated the classical verbal-overshadowing effect, while extending it to a more conceptual material. They also point out to some potential benefits and costs of verbalizing on visual memory, depending on the level of expertise.