Bartlett, J. C., Till, R. E. & Levy, J. C. (1980). Retrieval characteristics of complex pictures: Effects of verbal encoding. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 19, 430-449.

Four experiments examined the role of verbal information in recognition memory for complex, scenic photographs. At input, subjects performed a communication-oriented verbalization task or one of several varieties of a nonverbal task. Verbalization subjects outperformed others in a subsequent "resemblance" test which required recognition of both previously presented items and verbally similar "same-scene" or left/right-reversed items. However, verbalization did not improve discrimination between input pictures and their verbally similar mates in a "discrimination" test. Subjects were apparently able to control the weight given to verbal versus nonverbal information in meeting demands of the recognition tests. Experiment 4 suggested differences in the retrieval characteristics of verbal and nonverbal information, supporting one version of a dual-trace theory.