Distinctiveness Does Not Explain the Animacy Effect In Memory

We explored whether distinctiveness accounts for the animacy memory advantage. In two preregistered experiments manipulating elaborative (solving anagrams vs. reading+copying) and perceptual distinctiveness (font typical+black vs. font atypical+colorful), animacy and distinctiveness effects were obtained. However, no significant interactions emerged, suggesting that animacy benefits are unlikely driven by distinctiveness-based mechanisms.