The verbal loop hypothesis and the effects of similarity on recognition and communication in adults and children

The verbal loop hypothesis, which holds that verbal description underlies the recognition and communication of visual forms, was tested by determining whether performances in these two tasks were comparably affected by similarity. In the recognition task S attempted to select a previously presented test color from an array of four colors. In the communication task one S described a test color in an array of four, and then another S attempted to use this description to select the test color from the array. The similarity of the test to the other array colors was varied in both tasks, and 6-year-olds and adults served as Ss. The results supported the verbal loop hypothesis as similarity affected recognition and communication in the same way for both adults and children.