Image Memorability Shows Dissociative Susceptibility for Interference Across Stages of Visual Memory

Image memorability captures the striking consistency with which different observers remember and forget the same images. Memorability scores can be predicted with high accuracy from the visual and semantic properties of the image, yet remain largely unexplained by both computational models and current theories of visual memory. Recent findings show memorable images enjoy an early processing advantage and robust behavioral benefits. Still, it is unclear whether these advantages reflect a set of additive, stage‑specific effects that eventually make an image memorable. The present study approached this question using a visual change‑detection task with high‑ and low‑memorability images and different interference manipulations that engaged specific stages of visual memory processing. Experiment 1 targeted consolidation (dynamic masking after encoding). Experiment 2 tested maintenance under perceptual noise (masking during the retention interval). Experiment 3 examined maintenance under cognitive load (a concurrent task during retention). Across experiments, high‑memorability objects were reliably remembered better than low‑memorability objects. Yet, their susceptibility to interference dissociated across stages: memorable items were more protected from interference during consolidation and under cognitive load, but not from perceptual noise during the retention interval. These results provide evidence that memorability benefits engage at least two stage‑specific advantages: one related to early consolidation processes and another related to maintaining items under resource competition. This implies that memorability and the efficiency it carries is the outcome of multiple stimulus-system interactions.