Abstract

Previous research suggests that memory is a constructive system that can be biased by prior knowledge. A recent study reported a new type of memory bias in which visual scenes are remembered more sharply and clearly than they did when they were being encoded. This vividness extension phenomenon, however, was only examined using scene stimuli. In the current study, we investigated whether face stimuli could show vividness extension. Although face stimuli are processed differently from scene stimuli on a cognitive and neurological level, we found that face stimuli are remembered more vividly in the same way as scene stimuli. This finding raises the possibility that the vividness extension phenomenon is a general visual memory bias that occurs independent of the stimulus category.