Fig. 1: Experimental design.

A On day 1, participants (n = 150) underwent training to learn ten face-name associations. On the first block, the presentation of each face was followed by the presentation of the complete name. Then, for each pair, the face was presented first followed by the presentation of a sound cue, a “speak” legend plus the first syllable of the name. Participants responded aloud the complete name only after the sound cue and “speak” legend presentation. Each response was always followed by feedback on screen. B On day 2, groups received either a reactivation intervention or a reactivation control. In the reactivation intervention, each face was presented with the first name syllable followed by an interruption message. Conversely, in the reactivation control, each face was presented alone. In both cases, participants were not allowed to respond as neither the sound cue nor the “speak” legend appeared. C On day 3, participants performed three testing sessions: (1) associative memory (face-name pairs): each face was presented alone and participants were instructed to respond aloud the complete name; (2) free recall (item memory): subjects were instructed to say aloud, all the names that they could recall; and (3) memory recognition (item memory): participants performed an old/new task in which they were instructed to decide if the presented face was previously learned (old) or not (new).