Visual Memory for Place on the Page

Abstract

Sixty-four S s were asked to read a lengthy prose passage and were subsequently tested for (a) information recall, (b) memory for location of information answers; and (c) discrimination of information answers in a multiple-choice (MC) task. In agreement with previous studies, spatial memory was highly reliable and significantly greater for correct than incorrect information answers. However, the present experiment showed that cueing S s to a spatial test did not raise the level of spatial recall over that for a noncued group. Further, proportion of both item and spatial recall was found to increase directly with degree of visual memory for location as indexed by a five-point subjective knowledge scale. There was also a general trend for multiple-choice performance to improve as degree of visual knowledge for an answer's true location increased. It is apparent that visually mediated spatial memory is a fundamental attribute when text material is encoded, and may be of mnemonic worth when retention of information is required.