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J Camosun Psyc Res. (2020). Vol. 2, pp. 30-36.
Submitted Summer 2019; accepted November 2019.

The effects of auditory versus visual presentation methods
in word recall.
Author: Rose Sheaff*
Supervising Instructor: Grace Chan, Psyc 110 (“Experimental Psychology”)
Department of Psychology, Camosun College, 3100 Foul Bay Road, Victoria, BC, Canada V8P 5J2
*Corresponding author email: servingseniors@hotmail.ca

ABSTRACT
This experiment investigated whether people would remember a series of words more
successfully if they heard the words read aloud (auditory method) or if they saw the words
written on flash cards (visual method). The experiment was conducted using a within-subjects
design. Ten adults (4 males, 6 females) participated in this study. The first condition was
administered by the experimenter by reading 15 random words aloud to the participants and the
second condition consisted of the experimenter showing participants 15 flash cards with random
words written on them. After each condition, participants were then instructed to write down the
words they remembered. The hypothesis of the experiment was that people would have better
recall of words in the visual condition than in the auditory condition. The results of the study did
not support the hypothesis. The results of the experiment were significant, suggesting that
people will have greater success remembering words by the auditory method.
1. Introduction
Over the years, there has been much
debate among psychologists and educators
on the subject of visual and auditory
methods in testing of short-term memory.
The importance of these investigations lies
in an ongoing quest to understand how
people are able to most efficiently remember
items in short-term memory stores and also
to deploy the most effective methods for
instruction. Modality effect, or the effect of
presentation mode of material and the
ensuing rate of retention of information (de
Wilde, 2019), forms the basis for the study
of auditory versus visual memory. Penney
(1975) reported on the importance of
modality differences in an investigation of
various short-term memory experiments.

Auditory modes of presentation consistently
resulted in superior short-term memory
recall than did visual modes in the studies
surveyed. Penney contended that the results
were influenced by the finding that the
“[c]apacity of the auditory memory store is
larger than the visual” (p. 80). A study of
volunteer air traffic controllers in Southern
France (Galy, Melan, & Cariou, 2010) tested
participants’ recall of auditory and visual
modes of presentation in a recall task using
categories of 2 and 3 syllable words. The
results were consistent with the researchers’
hypothesis that participants would remember
words more successfully in the auditory
mode than in the visual mode. When shortterm memory is being discussed, it is
important to mention George Miller’s (1956)
well-known article regarding the capacity of
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short-term memory. After consulting the
findings from various experiments that used
differing modes of measuring memory,
Miller concluded that people can remember
seven items, “plus or minus two” (p. 81).
This experiment investigated whether
people would have more success in
remembering a series of words when they
heard them read aloud or if they saw the
words written on flash cards. The study was
conducted using ten participants, employing
a within-subjects design. The participants
were asked to write down the words they
could remember after being tested with
either the auditory or visual mode of
presentation. All ten participants were
tested by both conditions. The prediction
was that people would have superior visual
recall for the words they saw on the flash
cards because it is widely perceived outside
of the scientific community that most people
possess stronger visual rather than auditory
skills when short-term memory is involved.
2. Methods
2.1 Participants
This study was conducted using a withinsubjects design. Ten adults (4 males, 6
females) participated in the study. The age
range of the subjects was 42 years to 87
years, with a median age of 60 years. The
participants were randomly selected from
the researcher’s associates, friends, and
family.
2.2 Materials
The materials used in this study included
a two-page consent form, 15 flash cards, a
list of 15 words, and 10 pieces of paper for
participants to write on. The consent form
was printed on 8.5 x 11 inch white paper and
was double spaced, and in 12 point font

(Times New Roman). The consent form
explained the purpose of the experiment and
provided a clear description of the
procedures involved. Participants were
made aware of how much time the
experiment would take, and were ensured
that all information collected was
anonymous and would be kept strictly
confidential (refer to Appendix A). The
flashcards used in the study were comprised
of 15 pieces of 4-inch by 6-inch white card
stock. Each flash card had one word printed
on it in black marker, and the letters were 1
inch tall and 1 inch wide (refer to Appendix
B). The list of 15 words was written in
black marker on one piece of 4-inch by 6inch white cardstock (refer to Appendix C).
Participants were each given 1 sheet of 8inch by 10.5-inch lined paper to write the
words they remembered on.
2.3 Procedure
The researcher first explained the nature
of the study to potential participants. Any
questions or concerns were addressed by the
researcher at this time. Once the participant
had agreed to take part in the study, they
were given a consent form to read and sign.
The experiment took place in a quiet room
with no distractions, and the researcher
requested that cell phones be turned off.
The participant was given a piece of lined
paper and a pencil. The researcher and
participant were seated across from each
other. The auditory method was always
performed first and the visual method was
tested second, and the words were always
read or shown in the same order. When the
participant was ready, the researcher began
reading the words on the word list, with a 3second pause between each word. When the
researcher was finished reading all 15
words, the participant was instructed to write
the words they remembered on the top half
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of the piece of paper provided. After 5
minutes, the researcher informed the
participant that it was time for the next step
of the study. When the participant was
ready, the researcher held up each flash card
individually, with a 3-second pause between
each one. After the 15 flash cards had been
shown, the participant was instructed to
write the words they remembered on the
bottom half of the piece of paper provided.
The participant was again given 5 minutes to
complete this task. When they had finished,
the hypothesis was revealed and the
participant and researcher discussed various
aspects of the study.
3. Results
The level of significance in this
experiment was 0.05. The average words
recalled for the auditory method was 7.1 (SD
= 1.45). See Table 1 and Figure 1 for a
summary of the descriptive statistics. The
average words recalled for the visual method
was 5.8 (SD = 1.62). These data were
analyzed using a t-test and the results were
significant, t(9) = 2.9, p = 0.018, suggesting
that people will remember more words by
the auditory method.

4. Discussion
The hypothesis in the current experiment
was that people would have more success
remembering a series of words that they had
seen on flash cards than the words they had
heard read aloud. The experiment did not
support the hypothesis, as participants
remembered more of the words that they had
heard read aloud.
The results are compatible with previous
studies which have overwhelmingly shown
that auditory methods of presentation
produce superior recall than do visual
methods of presentation (e.g., Penney 1975).
One way of improving this experiment to
ensure more accurate results would be to
alternate the order of testing: one subject
would be tested by the visual condition first,
and the next subject would be tested by the
auditory method first. Future research on
this topic may include: Comparing
participants of differing age groups, testing
the visual mode of presentation before the
auditory mode of presentation (the opposite
as to what was done in this study), and
instead of using a within-subjects design, to
use a between-subjects design. This
research may be applied in educational
settings to assist students in knowing which

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mode is most beneficial to them, and also for
educators to have the advantage of knowing
how their students learn most efficiently.
References
de Wilde, M. (2019). What is the modality
effect? [Webpage]. Retrieved from
https://wisegeek.com/what-is-themodality-effect.htm
Galy, E., Melan, C., & Cariou, M. (2010).
Investigation of air traffic controllers’
response strategies in a free recall task:
What makes auditory recall superior to
visual recall? The International Journal

of Aviation Psychology, 20(3), 295-307.
doi:
10.1080/10508410105084142010487027
Miller, A., G. (1956). The magical number
seven, plus or minus two: Some limits on
our capacity for processing information.
Psychological Review, 63, (2), 81-97.
Retrieved from
https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/rev/
Penney, G., C. (1975). Modality effects in
short-term verbal memory. Psychological
Bulletin, 82(1), 68-84. Retrieved from
https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/bul

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