Cited by 223Memory Processes and InfluencesDeception detection and forensic psychologyCognitive Functions and Memory

Registered Replication Report: Schooler and Engstler-Schooler (1990)

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Alogna, V. K., Attaya, M. K., Aucoin, P., Bahník, Š., Birch, S., Birt, A. R., Bornstein, B. H., Bouwmeester, S. +83 more·2014·Perspectives on Psychological Science

Abstract

Trying to remember something now typically improves your ability to remember it later. However, after watching a video of a simulated bank robbery, participants who verbally described the robber were 25% worse at identifying the robber in a lineup than were participants who instead listed U.S. states and capitals—this has been termed the “verbal overshadowing” effect (Schooler & Engstler-Schooler, 1990). More recent studies suggested that this effect might be substantially smaller than first reported. Given uncertainty about the effect size, the influence of this finding in the memory literature, and its practical importance for police procedures, we conducted two collections of preregistered direct replications (RRR1 and RRR2) that differed only in the order of the description task and a filler task. In RRR1, when the description task immediately followed the robbery, participants who provided a description were 4% less likely to select the robber than were those in the control condition. In RRR2, when the description was delayed by 20 min, they were 16% less likely to select the robber. These findings reveal a robust verbal overshadowing effect that is strongly influenced by the relative timing of the tasks. The discussion considers further implications of these replications for our understanding of verbal overshadowing.

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  • A registered replication across 31 labs found verbal overshadowing reduced recall by 4-16%.

    “A recent “registered replication” attempt (Alogna et al., 2014), conducted across 31 labs, found that verbal overshadowing reduced recall by 4%–16%, depending on how close to the original event a verbal description was made.”

    From Inner Speech: Development, Cognitive Functions, Phenomenology, and Neurobiology (2015) · cites this paper as Alogna et al., 2014

    The report states that 31 labs joined the initial replication (p. 7) and reports 4% and 16% lower robber-selection rates under different description timings (p. 4). Those figures concern lineup recognition, not recall; moreover, only 22 of the 31 labs completed the follow-up experiment that produced the 16% figure (p. 7). (LLM, conf=0.88)

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Authors
Alogna, V. K., Attaya, M. K., Aucoin, P., Bahník, Š., Birch, S., Birt, A. R., Bornstein, B. H., Bouwmeester, S., Brandimonte, M. A., Brown, C., Buswell, K., Carlson, C., Carlson, M., Chu, S., Cislak, A., Colarusso, M., Colloff, M. F., Dellapaolera, K. S., Delvenne, J.-F., Di Domenico, A., Drummond, A., Echterhoff, G., Edlund, J. E., Eggleston, C. M., Fairfield, B., Franco, G., Gabbert, F., Gamblin, B. W., Garry, M., Gentry, R., Gilbert, E. A., Greenberg, D. L., Halberstadt, J., Hall, L., Hancock, P. J. B., Hirsch, D., Holt, G., Jackson, J. C., Jong, J., Kehn, A., Koch, C., Kopietz, R., Körner, U., Kunar, M. A., Lai, C. K., Langton, S. R. H., Leite, F. P., Mammarella, N., Marsh, J. E., McConnaughy, K. A., McCoy, S., McIntyre, A. H., Meissner, C. A., Michael, R. B., Mitchell, A. A., Mugayar-Baldocchi, M., Musselman, R., Ng, C., Nichols, A. L., Nunez, N. L., Palmer, M. A., Pappagianopoulos, J. E., Petro, M. S., Poirier, C. R., Portch, E., Rainsford, M., Rancourt, A., Romig, C., Rubínová, E., Sanson, M., Satchell, L., Sauer, J. D., Schweitzer, K., Shaheed, J., Skelton, F., Sullivan, G. A., Susa, K. J., Swanner, J. K., Thompson, W. B., Todaro, R., Ulatowska, J., Valentine, T., Verkoeijen, P. P. J. L., Vranka, M., Wade, K. A., Was, C. A., Weatherford, D., Wiseman, K., Zaksaite, T., Zuj, D. V., & Zwaan, R. A.
Affiliations
  • University of Otago (NZ)
  • Stonehill College (US)
  • Mount Saint Vincent University (CA)
  • University of Würzburg (DE)
  • SUNY Brockport (US)
  • University of Nebraska–Lincoln (US)
  • Erasmus University Rotterdam (NL)
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  • Victoria University of Wellington (NZ)
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  • Kent State University (US)
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  • The University of Texas at El Paso (US)
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  • Arkansas State University (US)
Venue
Perspectives on Psychological Science
Published
2014-09
Volume
9
Issue
5
Pages
556-578
ISSN
  • 1745-6916 (ISSN-L)
  • 1745-6924
OpenAlex
W1824379121
Cited by
223
References
25
Citations by year
2026: 8 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 28 · 2019: 37 · 2018: 39 · 2017: 24 · 2016: 18 · 2015: 16 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 1
FWCI
11.50
Type
journal article
Language
en
Locations
  • Perspectives on Psychological Science (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Pure (Coventry University) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • White Rose Research Online (University of Leeds, The University of Sheffield, University of York) (acceptedVersion)
  • Maynooth University ePrints and eTheses Archive (Maynooth University) (acceptedVersion)
  • eCite Digital Repository (University of Tasmania) (submittedVersion)
  • ChesterRep (University of Chester) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • Stirling Online Research Repository (University of Stirling) (submittedVersion, public-domain)
  • Figshare (submittedVersion)
  • Research Output (Edinburgh Napier University) (submittedVersion)
  • University of Birmingham Research Portal (University of Birmingham) (submittedVersion)
  • Edinburgh Napier Research Repository (Edinburgh Napier University) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Deception detection and forensic psychology
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Functions and Memory
Keywords
eyewitness identification, verbal description, task order, police procedures
MeSH terms
Facial Recognition, Adolescent, Adult, Crime, Female, Humans, Male, Psycholinguistics, Psychological Tests, Mental Recall, Speech, Sample Size, Young Adult

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