Cross-linguistic Semantic Differences Influence Recognition of Pictures

We compared recognition memory for pictures of family interactions in Indonesian – in which sibling terms are based on relative age – and English – in which sibling terms are based on gender. In Experiment 1, participants saw a set of pictures of family interactions and gave a verbal description of each picture. They later received a recognition test that included variants that altered either seniority relations or gender relations. The same method was used in Experiment 2, except that the recognition variants were changed to be similar families (with parallel relationships). During study, participants were asked either simply to remember the pictures (Experiment 2a) or to provide a verbal description (Experiment 2b). Results from both experiments suggest effects of language on memory, particularly when nonidentical transfer is involved.