Role of mimeticism and spatiality in textual recall

Four experiments were conducted to investigate the role of map spatiality and icon mimeticism in facilitating text recall. A secondary goal was to explore an assumption of the conjoint retention hypothesis, that the visuospatial component of working memory is involved in retrieving map information. We manipulated display conditions to evaluate the separate and combined effects of map spatiality and icon mimeticism on text recall. We also utilized a concurrent task paradigm to assess both the recognition of spatial displays and the recall of map feature information. The results of all four experiments point to the mimeticism of icons as the key attribute of maps for facilitating recall, rather than the spatial layout of the map when visual displays and text are presented simultaneously during encoding. We also found no evidence indicating that maps are processed in a more spatial manner than are lists. © 2000 Academic Press.