Auditory presentation leads to better analogical retrieval than written presentation

Research on analogical retrieval suggests that cues with object similarity to a prior episode in memory lead to better retrieval than do cues with relational similarity. We suggest that previous work may have underestimated the effectiveness of relational cues, because this work has presented cues and targets in written format. There is some evidence that spoken presentations lead to better memory than do written presentations. We tested this hypothesis using a continuous reminding paradigm in which people read and recalled proverbs that were presented either in spoken or written format. The spoken format led to better retrieval from relational cues, particularly at longer lags between cue and memory item.