When considered in the context of prior research, the articles in this special issue on verbal overshadowing largely support the contention that verbalization can induce a processing shift that interferes with the application of non-verbal operations. Multiple sources of evidence for a processing shift are reviewed, including: (1) verbalization quality often does not correspond to recognition performance; (2) describing one stimulus can interfere with memory for a different stimulus; (3) engaging in a featural processing tasks impairs recognition in a manner comparable to verbalization; and (4) engaging in non-verbal tasks can reverse the negative effects of verbalization. In the light of this evidence, it is suggested that verbalization produces a ‘transfer inappropriate processing shift’ whereby the cognitive operations engaged in during verbalization dampen the activation of brain regions associated with critical non-verbal operations. This account of verbal overshadowing is then used to explain both the generality and fragility of the verbal overshadowing effect. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.