How we remember the things that we see can be shaped by our prior experiences. Here, we examine how linguistic and sensory experiences interact to influence visual memory. Objects in a visual search that shared phonology (cat-cast) or semantics (dog-fox) with a target were later remembered better than unrelated items. Phonological overlap had a greater influence on memory when targets were cued by spoken words, while semantic overlap had a greater effect when targets were cued by characteristic sounds. The influence of overlap on memory varied as a function of individual differences in language experience -- greater bilingual experience was associated with decreased impact of overlap on memory. We conclude that phonological and semantic features of objects influence memory differently depending on individual differences in language experience, guiding not only what we initially look at, but also what we later remember.

我们如何记住所看到的事物可能会受到我们之前的经历的影响。在这里，我们研究语言和感官体验如何相互作用来影响视觉记忆。在视觉搜索中，与目标共享语音（猫型）或语义（狗狐）的对象后来比不相关的项目更容易被记住。当目标由口语单词提示时，语音重叠对记忆的影响更大，而当目标由特征声音提示时，语义重叠对记忆的影响更大。重叠对记忆的影响随着语言经验的个体差异而变化——双语经验越多，重叠对记忆的影响就越小。我们得出的结论是，物体的语音和语义特征根据语言经验的个体差异对记忆产生不同的影响，不仅指导我们最初看到的内容，而且指导我们后来记住的内容。