Verbalising visual memories

Abstract

In this paper, we introduce a special issue on the role of verbalisation in visual memory. In particular, we provide an overview of research on: (a) verbal interference and facilitation in face and person recognition; (b) similarities and differences between effects of verbalisation and processing in the Navon task (i.e., global or local letter identification; Navon, 1977); and (c) effects of verbalisation in visual imagery and object memory. We argue that verbal processes influence the encoding, storage, and retrieval of visual information. Moreover, different forms of verbal interference and facilitation are likely to be due to different mechanisms in different contexts. The state of the art is that we are just beginning to understand the rich complexity of the problem.