Pictures generally show superior recognition relative to their verbal labels. An experiment with 256 undergraduates was conducted to link this pictorial superiority effect to sensory or meaning codes associated with the 2 types of symbols. Paired associate stimuli consisted of simple pictures or their labels, with list items selected from either the same or different conceptual category. In addition, schematic or visual similarity among the pictures was either high or low. At 2 rates of presentation, equal amounts of conceptual interference were produced for pictures and their labels. High schematic similarity eliminated the pictorial superiority effect at the slow rate and completely reversed it at the fast rate. Results suggest that the meaning representations for simple pictures and their labels may be identical and that the pictorial superiority effect is related to the qualitative superiority of the sensory codes for pictures. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)