Direction-specific typing as a strategy to increase within-pair order memory

Previous studies have shown that reading backwards or mirrored text is more likely to be remembered in comparison to normal-oriented text (Kolers, 1975; Kolers 1976). Specifically, Kolers (1975) found participants had remembered previously read inverted text for long intervals of time compared to normal-oriented text which was more likely to be categorized as new despite being read previously. Furthermore, participants had remembered the inverted text for long periods of time from up to at least a year (Kolers, 1976). We wondered whether we could leverage the benefits of reading inverted text found in Kolers’ studies to remember within-pair order (e.g., AB vs. BA) except through typing the words within the word pairs in a certain orientation (either backwards or forwards). More directly, by typing only one word backwards and the other forwards within a word pair may improve memory for within-pair order. To note, our lab has not found improvement of order memory through intentional studying of order.