Recognition memory for concrete, regular abstract, and diverse abstract pictures.

Based on previous research by Goldstein and Chance in which poor recognition memory for abstract visual patterns was reported, this study compared recognition memory for pictures of everyday concrete objects, regular abstract stimuli as employed by Goldstein and Chance, and diverse abstract stimuli. A (3) x 2 design (stimulus type x test order) analysis of variance design was used. The subjects (N = 31) first viewed 30 target stimuli, followed by an immediate recognition test in which for 30 paired target and distractor stimuli shown they indicated which one they had seen previously. Concrete pictures were recognized with near perfect accuracy, and above the level for diverse abstract pictures; these in turn were better identified than regular abstract items, on which performance resembled that found by Goldstein and Chance. It is concluded that stimulus discriminability, rather than representational meaningfulness, may be crucial in picture recognition.