Effects of typographical cues on reading and recall of text

Effects of typographical cues on text memory were investigated. In Experiment 1, college students read a 4-page text, then were tested on memory for specific “target” statements. The text contained no underlining (control), or the targets were underlined (light signaling), or the targets and half of the nontarget sentences were underlined (heavy signaling). Cued recall was better in the light condition than in the control or heavy conditions, which did not differ. Experiment 2 replicated the control and light conditions using capitalization to signal targets. Texts were computer-presented to record sentence reading times. Reading was slower and memory was better on capitalized versus uncapitalized targets. The findings demonstrate that effects of typographical cues on memory are mediated by effects on attention during reading.