The effects of drawing and writing encoding methods on item and associative recognition in younger and older adults

Age-related decline in associative memory is well documented, and drawing has consistently been shown to enhance memory. However, whether the mnemonic benefits of drawing extend from item memory to associative memory remains unclear. The present study examined the effects of encoding method (drawing vs. writing) and encoding strategy (standard memorisation vs. relational encoding) on item and associative recognition in younger and older adults. Two complementary experiments were conducted. In Experiment 1, participants encoded word pairs by drawing the words or repeatedly writing them, without instructions to integrate the two words. In Experiment 2, the same encoding methods were examined under relational encoding instructions encouraging meaningful integration of the two words. Across both age groups, drawing consistently enhanced item recognition relative to writing. Without relational encoding instructions, however, this advantage did not extend to associative recognition. Under relational encoding, drawing continued to benefit item recognition, whereas writing produced superior associative recognition. Cross-experiment analyses further showed that the relationship between encoding methods and memory performance differed as a function of encoding strategy. These findings suggest that the effectiveness of an encoding method depends on both the encoding strategy adopted during learning and the type of information to be remembered, identifying an important boundary condition of the drawing effect.