Abstract
The purpose of this study was to compare Kanji items with Kana ones in terms of the free recall performance, and to investigate the effect of orthography and imagery on memory. Two experiments were conducted in incidental learning paradigm, in which subjects were instructed to read aloud each stimulus item. In Experiment 1, an immediate recall test was used. Number of correct free recall for low imagery items was larger in Kanji than in Kana, and this result agreed with Yokoyama and Imai (1989).
In Experiment 2, 30-s delay was inserted between a reading aloud task and a recall test. The recall performance indicated superiority of Kanji items in high imagery items. These results were interpreted that the recall process was different between in Kanji items and in Kana ones.
