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The Production Effect on Memory is Located at Memory Encoding and Memory Retrieval: An ERP Study

Poster Session D - Monday, March 9, 2026, 8:00 – 10:00 am PDT, Fairview/Kitsilano Ballroom

Alexis Kulin¹ (), Angela Canda², Grit Herzmann¹; ¹The College of Wooster, ²John Carroll University

The Product Effect (PE) is a memory phenomenon where reading words out loud produces superior memory than reading words silently. Research has established distinctiveness as an influence on the PE, citing the distinct elements of speaking as causes for more accurate recollection. This study utilized a remember/know paradigm to observe the PE effect for study and test phase ERPs to determine if encoding during the study phase and retrieval during the test phase are impacted by the PE. Participants were presented with novel nouns to read aloud or silently during the study phase. During the test phase participants were presented with the previously studied and new nouns, identifying each as ‘remember,’ ‘know, ’or ‘new’. Participants produced higher accuracy in the aloud condition for ‘remember’ responses compared to words read silently, demonstrating a PE. ERP results demonstrated more positive amplitudes for ‘remember’ than forgotten responses at the Dm ERP component in the aloud but not the silent condition during the study phase, indicating the PE influenced memory encoding. No observed difference at the FN400 ERP component between aloud and silent conditions suggested familiarity did not influence recognition of studied words. More positive amplitudes for ‘remember’ responses at the LPC ERP component in the aloud than silent condition during the test phase suggested that the distinct elements of speaking increased memory retrieval and therefore recollection of studied words. These are the first results to confirm the influence of the PE on memory encoding, while also demonstrating the effect of distinctiveness on recollection.

Topic Area: LONG-TERM MEMORY: Episodic