Effects of picture size and placement on memory for written words

A study investigating the effects of varying size and position of line drawings in combination with written words was conducted with kindergarten students. Subjects were shown written words under four conditions that represented various size and position relationships between line drawings and orthography. After 4 consecutive days of exposure in an incidental learning task, both identification and recognition measures were obtained. Results showed superior performance for word-only and enhanced-word conditions, over those in which small and large line drawings were paired with written words, supporting similar research findings conducted with reading tasks. Implications are drawn for application to individuals with little or no functional speech who use graphic symbols for expressive communication.