Some effects of encoding, codability, and exposure upon recognition memory

Abstract

The primary purpose of this research was to investigate whether verbal and imaginal encoding interact with stimulus codability and exposure either to enhance or to retard recognition memory for shapes. The secondary purpose was to test the conceptual coding hypothesis (Ellis, 1972). Two multivariate factorial experiments were conducted. In the first study, encoding was a between-groups factor; in the second study, encoding was a within-subjects factor. The other within-subjects factors investigated in both experiments were codability, encoding exposure , and recognition exposure. It was found that the interaction of encoding and codability was significant. The conceptual coding hypothesis was somewhat substantiated by these results.