Verbal overshadowing at an immediate Task-Test delay is independent of Video-Task delay

Abstract

ABSTRACT We sought to identify the sources of effect size differences in replications of the verbal overshadowing effect: the negative effect of verbally describing a face on later recognition of the face (Schooler & Engstler-Schooler, 1990). Comparisons of the original findings with those in a registered replication report (Alogna et al., 2014) showed differences in the patterns of recognition in the criterial conditions defining the verbal overshadowing effect. The review indicates that although verbal overshadowing is strongest when the recognition task immediately follows the verbal description task, that delay variable is confounded with the delay between the encoding of the face and the verbal description task. We varied the delay between face encoding and the verbal description task under conditions where the recognition test immediately followed the description task. The verbal overshadowing effect was independent of the delay between face encoding and verbal description of the face.