While much previous research suggests that verbal processing typically 通常 improves memory performance, the present results reliably demonstrated that verbalizing memory for the appearance of a face can actually impair subsequent recognition. In addition, a systematic examination of the parameters mediating this effect has eliminated the following hypotheses:

 (1) The hypothesis that negative effects of verbalization result from incomplete encoding of visual details was ruled out because verbalization occurred after the visual stimuli had already been encoded.

由于言语表达在视觉刺激已被编码之后才出现，因此排除了由于视觉细节的不完整编码而导致的言语化负面影响之假设。

(2) The hypothesis that the negative effects of verbalization are a byproduct of visual recall was ruled out by the observation that visualizing a face does not affect subsequent performance.

 (3) The hypothesis that the negative effects of verbalization are limited to processes that are specific to faces was excluded by showing that color memory is similarly affected by verbalization. 

(4) The hypothesis that the negative effects of verbalization are due to subjects’ exclusive reliance on their verbatim descriptions was inconsistent with the lack of a relationship between description quality and recognition performance. 

(5) The hypothesis that verbalization effects are limited to a specific face was ruled out by the observation that the effects generalize to a number of faces.

 (6) The hypothesis that verbalization impairment reflects some idiosyncracy of the present paradigm was ruled out by the observation that verbalization had a very different effect on memory for statements. 

(7) The hypothesis that verbalization causes subjects to temporarily adopt a general verbal strategy for remembering faces was eliminated by showing that the negative effects persist for at least 2 days. 

(8) The hypothesis that verbalization distorts the original visual memory representation was eliminated by the observation that limiting recognition time alleviates the impairment.