Verbalizing facial memory: criterion effects in verbal overshadowing.
This article investigated the role of the recognition criterion in the verbal overshadowing effect (VOE). In 3 experiments, people witnessed an event, verbally described a perpetrator, and then attempted identification. The authors found in Experiment 1, which included a "not present" response option and both perpetrator-present (PP) and perpetrator-absent (PA) lineups, an increased reluctance to identify a person from both lineup types after verbalization. Experiment 2 incorporated a forced-choice procedure, and the authors found no effect of verbalization on identification performance. Experiment 3 replicated the essential aspects of these results. Consequently, the VOE may reflect a change in recognition criterion rather than a changed processing style or alteration of the underlying memory trace. This conclusion was confirmed by computational modeling of the data.
Clare
Joseph
J
School of Psychology, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia 6009. joe@psy.uwa.edu.au
Lewandowsky
Stephan
S
D005145:Face; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D008568:Memory; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014705:Verbal Behavior