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Updated: Jan 27, 2026

Making Sense of Listening: The IMAP Test Battery
Published on: October 11, 2010
Listening to the Picture-Superiority Effect
Tyler M Ensor1,2, Tyler D Bancroft1,3, William E Hockley1
11 Department of Psychology, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, ONT, Canada.
Pictures are remembered better than words, a phenomenon known as the picture-superiority effect (PSE). This study suggests dual coding explains free recall, while conceptual distinctiveness explains recognition.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Memory Research
Background:
- The picture-superiority effect (PSE) demonstrates superior memory for pictures over words.
- Dual-coding theory (DCT) and distinctiveness accounts are primary explanations for the PSE.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the auditory analog of the PSE to differentiate between DCT and distinctiveness accounts.
- To determine if the auditory PSE extends to recognition memory.
Main Methods:
- Four experiments were conducted to test for an auditory PSE in recognition tasks.
- Comparison of recall and recognition memory for auditory stimuli.
Main Results:
- The auditory PSE was observed in free recall but not in recognition tasks.
- Findings suggest different mechanisms underlie recall and recognition memory for auditory stimuli.
Conclusions:
- Dual coding may underpin the free-recall PSE.
- Conceptual distinctiveness appears to be the primary driver of the recognition PSE.
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