Learning pictures and words: The role of implicit verbal labeling

In two experiments (Ns = 144 and 192), second, fourth, and sixth graders learned pairs of pictures or of words, and were tested for both item learning (either with pictures or words) and associative learning. By analysis of false recognition errors, it was determined that implicit verbal labeling occurred only among the older two groups. However, there was no evidence that this labeling affected paired-associate learning.