Four experiments examine whether spatial location information is more likely to be encoded with
the memory representation of objects than of words. Sixteen objects or the one-word verbal labels
for each were studied on a matrix display, followed by a recall test and then a relocation test. In each
experiment, an independent variable known to affect item recall was introduced to test whether
spatial location memory would concern itantly vary for both objects and words. In Experiment 1,
recall of both objects and words increased with age of the subjects. However, relocation accuracy
increased for objects but not for words. In Experiment 2, visual imagery instructions generally improved
memory for words without affecting relocation accuracy. In Experiments 3 and 4, prolonging
the test delay diminished recall for objects and words. However, relocation accuracy decreased only
for the objects. In each experiment, item memory was affected independently of location memory
for words but not for objects. The results suggest that different processes are involved in encoding
item and location information for words but not for objects.