Abstract
Does verbalizing a previously-seen complex visual stimulus influence its subsequent recollection? We investigated this question by examining the mediating role played by expertise level in fencing on the effects of verbalizing upon visual memory. Participants with three distinct levels of expertise in fencing (novices, intermediates, experts) performed seven trials. In each trial, they first watched four times a short video that displayed fencing movements. Then, half of them verbalized the previously-seen visual stimulus (i.e., the verbalization group), the other half carried out a hidden-word task (i.e., the non-verbalization group). Finally, all the participants were asked to recognize the previously-seen fencing movements amongst novel fencing movements. Overall, verbalizing improved recognition for novices, altered recognition for intermediates, and had no effect for experts. These findings replicated the classical verbal-overshadowing effect, while extending it to a more conceptual material. They also point out to some potential benefits and costs of verbalizing on visual memory, depending on the level of expertise.
Highlights
Language plays a key role in everyday life since so many of the activities that humans perform are accompanied by speech, whether directed at others or themselves
An ANOVA was conducted with expertise level and type of verbalization as between-subject variables
The results indicated a main effect of expertise level, F(2, 86) = 11.50, p
Summary
Language plays a key role in everyday life since so many of the activities that humans perform are accompanied by speech, whether directed at others or themselves. In the face of complex visual material, verbalization often helps the learner to consolidate the memory trace or build abstract knowledge [1]. What has to be learned is neither entirely ‘‘perceptual’’ nor entirely ‘‘conceptual’’, but combines these two dimensions. This is the case in the art of fencing. Learners watch sequences of movements and are often asked to put what they see into words. This kind of learning is perceptual and conceptual: learners observe and memorize a sequence of movements occurring in succession and, because each single movement composing the sequence is unique, they need to break down the sequence into its single units in order to analyze every unit in depth. The present study attempts to determine the extent to which visual memory for previously-seen sequence of fencing movements is affected by verbalization
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