Perceptual Richness of Retrieval Cues Enhances Memory for Emotional and Neutral Natural Scenes

Natural scenes are typically well-categorized in meaning and efficiently recognized, even under perceptually degraded conditions. The present study investigated whether the perceptual quality of a retrieval cue influences the long-term reconsolidation of visual memory. Participants were initially exposed to a series of images varying in emotional content. After a short delay, they completed an intermediate recognition memory test in which previously seen ("old") and novel ("new") images were presented in either a blurred or intact format. One week later, participants performed a final recognition task involving only intact old images-some of which had been tested previously (as blurred or intact), and others not tested at all. Recognition performance was generally enhanced for old pictures that had been previously tested, relative to non-tested pictures, with a greater benefit observed for images tested in intact form. Although emotional images were overall better remembered than neutral images, the benefit of testing with intact cues was more pronounced for neutral than for emotional pictures. Event-related potentials during the final task revealed a larger late positive component (LPC) for correctly recognized old versus new images, regardless of prior testing or emotional content. These findings suggest that recognition memory for natural scenes-while already robust-can be further strengthened through a single re-presentation within an active retrieval context. Critically, the perceptual quality of the retrieval cue plays a key role, likely by promoting continued visual processing. Implications are discussed in relation to desirable difficulty and global/local processing theories in scene perception and memory.