Are normals really interfered in Kapur's name/activity learning test?

Assuming that interference occurs in normals charged with learning a list of famous people's names paired with incongruous activities, Kapur (Kapur et al., 1986) demonstrated a facilitation effect in a selective retrograde amnesic, which he interpreted as interference elimination. We tested this assumption in 23 normals administering a list of famous names coupled with incongruous activities and, as control, another list of unknown names coupled with other activities. The experiment was then replicated with a more sensitive list in 13 normals. An interference effect was not confirmed. We argue that famous people's names do not need to be learned and the caricatural effect deriving from imaging famous people in an unusual activity is in any case facilitating the task.