Perceptual interference at encoding enhances recall for high- But not low-imageability words

Abstract

Interfering with stimulus perception during encoding can improve later explicit memory (the perceptual-interference effect). The compensatory-processing hypothesis attributes the perceptual-interference effect to enhanced processing of higher level (nonvisual) information during perception. Recent research indicates that the semantic dimension of imageability is one type of higher level information that plays a role in word perception. To the extent that semantic representations play a more important role in the perception of high- than for low-imageability words, the compensatory-processing hypothesis predicts a larger perceptual-interference effect for high- than for low-imageability words. Two experiments confirm this prediction. A robust effect of perceptual interference was found for high- but not for low-imageability words.