Recognition memory for components of pictures in children and adults

First graders and undergraduates were shown a study set of pictures depicting one animal (actor) performing some action on another animal (object). Prior to viewing the pictures for a 1-sec exposure, subjects heard a verbal description of the pictures. 2 groups heard interactive descriptions, formulated as either passive or active sentences. 2 groups heard conjunctive descriptions, formulated as either passive or active sentences. 2 groups heard conjunctive descriptions, with the actor first and object second or vice versa. A forced-choice recognition test was then given in which the actors and objects were presented separately and paired with distractor animals. Both children and adults recognized significantly more actors than objects. Adults' response latencies were also significantly shorter when the target was an actor than when it was an object, while the reverse was true for children. Contrary to expectation, verbal descriptions did not alter which components of pictures were encoded. Rather, actors were the most salient feature of the pictures and were most likely to be recognized for both children and adults.