What explains the von Restorff effect? Contrasting distinctive processing and retrieval cue efficacy

This study contrasted two explanations of the von Restorff effect – distinctive processing and retrieval cue efficacy, which differ in their assumptions about encoding processes. A homonym, kiwi, was used as the critical word and manipulated to either be synonymous with background items, or made an isolate by orienting participants towards its alternate meaning. The orientation was done at either the encoding or retrieval stages. Experiments 1a and 1b showed that even without distinctive processing at encoding, the von Restorff effect could still occur at retrieval in the presence of an effective retrieval cue. Experiments 2 and 3 eliminated the von Restorff effect through equating cue overload between the control and isolation lists. The results support the retrieval cue efficacy account and suggest that it is not necessary to have distinctive processing to obtain the isolation effect.
Source: Journal of Memory and Language - Category: Speech-Language Pathology Source Type: research