Secondary distinctiveness effects: Orthographic distinctiveness and bizarreness effects make independent contributions to memory performance

The secondary distinctiveness effect means that items that are unusual compared to one's general knowledge stored in permanent memory are remembered better than common items. This research studied two forms of secondary‐distinctiveness‐based effects in conjunction: the bizarreness effect and the orthographic distinctiveness (OD) effect. More specifically, an experiment investigated in young adults a possible additive effect of bizarreness and OD effects in free recall performance. Results revealed that in young adults these two secondary‐distinctiveness‐based effects appear to be largely independent and can complement each other to enhance performance. Findings are discussed in light of current distinctiveness theory.