The Effect of Presentation Modality on Text Memory as a Function of Difficulty Level

抄録

The effect of presentation modality on text memory was investigated by manipulating the difficulty level of text content. An easy and a difficult texts, which were almost equal in length, were presented in one of three modalities (auditory, visual, and audiovisual) and remembered. Free recall was used and recall protocols were scored for 20 idea units. The results showed a modality effect, that is, the superiority of auditory over visual and audiovisual presentation in recall performance. Auditory superiority, however, was found for the difficult text only, and was not restricted to the recency part. These results cannot be explained by the precategorical store hypothesis which is a widespread interpretation of the modality effect on word-list memory. Instead, one possibility was suggested in terms of capacity shortage owing to the translation of printed letters into an auditory form which impaires the processing of the difficult text.