Investigation of a visual imagery mnemonic device for acquiring face--name associations

Two studies were conducted on a face--name mnemonic containing several components: a prominent facial feature; a concrete, high imagery transformation of the person's name (e.g., "Bryant" became "bride ant"); and an interactive visual image of these two components. In the first experiment subjects were given one of six strategies for learning face--name associations; the strategies differed with respect to which of the three or combination of the three components were incorporated. Results indicated that all three components of the face--name mnemonic were essential for its effectiveness. The second experiment showed that the cue effectiveness of a facial feature decreased with the frequency of its usage and varied directly with the feature's distinctiveness among all faces in the list.