Author:

Keywords:

image memorability, time, scenes, visual memory, long-term memory

Abstract:

Some images we see stick in mind, while others fade. Recent studies of visual memory have found remarkable levels of consistency for this inter-item variability across observers. This suggests that memorability can be considered an intrinsic image property. Most of these studies quantified the memorability of an image as the proportion of participants recognizing it in a repeat-detection memory task. The retention interval in this task is typically quite short (e.g., 4 min.), although one previous study increased it to 40 min. and found some evidence for the consistency of image memorability over time. The current study sought to further evaluate this consistency with a more traditional visual long-term memory task. Participants studied 342 previously quantified images and completed a first recognition test immediately after. Two additional recognition tests followed one day and one week later. A Latin square design enabled us to quantify the memorability of each image at each retention interval without testing participants for the same image twice. Our memorability scores show levels of consistency across observers in line with those reported in previous research. They correlate strongly with previous quantifications (rhos between .52–.76 at the shortest interval) and appear stable over time (rhos between .52–.69).