Abstract
Two incidental-learning experiments investigated the joint effects of spacing and mirror-image repetition on memory for pictures. In Experiment 1, the second presentation of a picture (P2) was always the mirror-image reversal of P1. The effect of P1-P2 spacing on memory was small and not statistically significant. In Experiment 2, both “reverse P2” and “identical P2” conditions were included. A reliable spacing effect was found in both conditions, but the effect was greatly attenuated when P2 was the mirror-image reversal of P1. This attenuation, resulting from mirror-image reversal, contrasts with the lack of attenuation resulting from switching the input modality of a word from P1 to P2. The result suggests that the left-right arrangement of elements of a picture is a fundamental aspect of the picture’s encoding in memory.
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This research was supported by Grant GB40360 from the National Science Foundatio.
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Hintzman, D.L., Stern, L.D. Spacing, mirror-image repetition, and memory for pictures. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 10, 321–324 (1977). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03329349
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03329349