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Picture superiority effect 0:56
A 56-second explainer of Picture superiority effect, narrated over the same demo you can try yourself.
Try the interactive Picture superiority effect demo
What this video covers
The picture superiority effect is the finding that we remember pictures far better than words. The same idea shown as a clear image is recognised and recalled more reliably, and for longer, than the idea written out - because pictures get encoded both as images and as meaning, giving memory two routes back to them.
Notice how the picture items stuck while the word-only ones slipped away? That edge is the picture superiority effect: images are encoded twice over - as a picture and as meaning - so memory has two ways back to them. It's why a clear icon beside a label, a diagram over a paragraph, or an illustrated step is so much easier to remember and scan than text alone.
