The effects of cueing and constraint instructions on children's free recall performance

The performance of nursery school children was investigated in two experiments involving cued and constrained free recall. Under constrained instructions, subjects were required to recall items by category. Under cued instructions subjects could recall items in any order they wished but the organized nature of the lists was identified and subjects were told that they would remember more if they recalled things from the same category together. No effects of cueing instructions were obtained in either Experiment I or Experiment II. Constrained recall instructions led to enhanced recall and category clustering. However, the beneficial effects were not maintained on later trials with the same list or on a transfer list when the constraints on recall were dropped. In addition, the introduction of constrained recall instructions had identical effects whether they were introduced early or late in practice. The results were discussed in terms of the influences of variables which affect the subjects' use of retrieval strategies and the development of memory.     

The effects of imagery instructions on total congenital blind recall

Abstract

Research on the performance of total congenital blind subjects in imagery tasks is of particular interest because it helps to evaluate the consequences of their lack of visual experience. The present paper examines some points which remained unclear in the preceding research on the effects of imagery instructions on the recall of blind subjects. In Experiment 1 it is shown that, in a free recall task of unrelated nouns, the blind may take advantage of imagery instructions, independently of the particular requirement to form either common or bizarre images. In Experiment 2 the multiple image processing deficit of the blind found by De Beni and Cornoldi (1988) was again observed, but the effect was not found when the same quantity of material had to be processed verbally. Results are interpreted as showing that, although the blind may follow imagery instructions, their visual handicap creates specific difficulties in creating interactive images involving several items at the same time.     

Orienting versus learning instructions in children's free recall: New evidence

Ninety-six first graders were given a list of either words or pictures to process under three types of incidental orienting instructions (semantic, directed at list organization; semantic, directed at individual item characteristics; and physical) and an intentional-learning instruction. For pictures and words, list organizational instructions were the most effective, and were superior to intentional-learning instructions. In contrast, individual item-orienting instructions were not better than intentional-learning instructions on either list. Additionally, different patterns of instructional effects emerged on the two list types, which were interpreted with respect to both available data and contemporary processing theories.     

Effects of free and forced retrieval instructions on false recall and recognition.

One hundred undergraduates heard 6 lists of 14 words that were each associated with 1 of 6 central concepts not on the lists (the DRMRS procedure). The participants were instructed to recall as many words as possible (free retrieval) or to fill all 14 spaces (forced retrieval) and were subsequently given a recognition test. False recall and recognition of the critical central concepts were higher with forced than with free retrieval instructions, but correct recall and recognition were not affected. Confidence was lower for false than for correct recall and recognition. Confidence was also lower with forced than with free retrieval instructions for false recall but not for false recognition. The DRMRS procedure easily elicited false memories, but confidence judgments helped more in detecting them in recall than in recognition. Theoretical and applied implications are discussed.     

Association and categorisation effects on free recall

Lists of 18 words which varied in mean associative strength, the category membership of the associations and in word frequency were presented to subjects 3 times with recall required after each presentation. Recall efficiency increased with association level and with similarly categorised associates. In lists of High mean associative strength which consisted of similarly categorised words, the recall of high frequency word lists was facilitated but at low levels of associative strength, with similarly categorised words, recall was facilitated at both levels of word frequency used. Clustering and errors which were associatively related to the items being learned were greater in lists which contained sets of similarly categorised associates.     

Semantic cueing in recognition and recall

This study is concerned with the recognition and recall of semantically ambiguous words (homographs) presented in a semantic context. Changing the semantic context lowered test scores relative to test conditions both without context and with the same semantic context. This effect was found to obtain in both recognition and recall. The results are discussed in terms of the role of retrieval in recognition and recall.     

The effects of visual presentation method on single-trial free recall

In two experiments four different conditions of visual presentation were studied with the purpose of furthering our understanding of the role of temporal and spatial factors underlying modality effects in single-trial free recall. Enriching spatial factors in the visual presentation did not produce a higher performance in the recency part of the serial-position curve, and it was therefore concluded that the modality effect could not be due to any visual handicap. A lag distribution measure was suggested and applied to the data to characterize output order (the order of recall) in single-trial free recall. The two experiments carried out used a within-subjects and a between-subjects design, respectively, and illustrate the importance of the methodological difference between these two designs.     

The effects of free recall testing on subsequent source memory

The testing effect is the finding that prior retrieval of information from memory will result in better subsequent memory for that material. One explanation for these effects is that initial free recall testing increases the recollective details for tested information, which then becomes more available during a subsequent test phase. In three experiments we explored this hypothesis using a source-monitoring test phase after the initial free recall tests. We discovered that memory is differentially enhanced for certain recollective details depending on the nature of the free recall task. Thus further research needs to be conducted to specify how different kinds of memorial details are enhanced by free recall testing.     

False recall and false memory: the effects of instructions on memory errors

An experiment is reported using a list-learning paradigm in which all the words have a common associate, which is known to be frequently but erroneously recalled. Four experimental conditions were used. One group was instructed to think about the meanings of the words, another to relate them to personal experience, another to create images of the words, and another to chain the words into a sentence. Both thinking about the meaning and chaining increased recall of the words actually presented, but in none of the conditions was there any effect on false recall. The implications and relevance of these findings to the controversy over false memories are discussed. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The recall of stereotypes: the effects of incidentally activated directed forgetting instructions

Based on the automotive model (J. A. Bargh, 1990) and the directed forgetting paradigm, the present study investigated whether incidentally activated forget and remember cues can lead to similar effects as explicitly given instructions. To this end, the present paper attempted to replicate the findings of Macrae, Bodenhausen, Milne, and Ford (1997) employing their category primes (child abuser, neutral), study lists (List 1, List 2), and procedure. Using explicit directed forgetting instructions, Experiment 1 showed that the recall of the stereotypically relevant words (List 1) was higher when participants were given a remember than a forget instruction. This effect was found regardless of the prime conditions. Similarly, Experiment 2 showed that participants in the child abuser and neutral prime conditions recalled more stereotypically relevant words (List 1) when they were implicitly cued to remember than to forget these words. Experiment 3 showed that cognitively busy participants in the child-abuser, but not in the neutral prime condition, recalled more to-be-forgotten stereotypical words than nonbusy participants. These results are consistent with Macrae et al. s findings, and show that the effects of directed forgetting instructions are similar regardless of whether they were given explicitly or were activated incidentally. Results are discussed in relation to stereotype maintenance.     

The effects of classification structure on organized free recall in children

A sorting presentation procedure was used to study the effects of three classification schemes (self-generated, thematic, or taxonomic) on the organized free recall of second and fifth graders. Recall and clustering were significantly higher for subjects who used self-generated organizations than for subjects given the experimenter-prescribed taxonomic classification. The results indicated that memory performance benefitted when the organization of stimulus materials was consonant with children's personal classification structures.     

Effects of simultaneous interference upon free recall learning and retention

Learning and retention were examined under varying amounts of intratask interference during learning. All subjects were required to learn the same list of auditorily presented words while concurrently processing a visually presented interfering list. Differential amounts of interference were produced by varying the relatedness of the interfering list to the learning list. The common learning list consisted of four general categories that also contained members of more restricted subcategories. Some subjects were instructed about the existence and names of the subcategories. The results showed that interference lengthened learning but, in some cases, facilitated retention relative to control groups. Restricted category knowledge facilitated learning but had no effect on retention. There were no significant retention differences after I week, but after 5 weeks retention performance was significantly better for groups that learned under related interference conditions. The results were interpreted in terms of more elaborate encoding of the items in the high intratask interference conditions.     

Differential effects of stress-inducing instructions on anxiety, learning and performance

Marton, F. I., Fransson, A., Jonsson, B., Klenell, A.-Ch. & Roos, B. Differential effects of stress-inducing instructions on anxiety, learning and performance. Scand. J. Psychol., 1973, 14, 213–219.-In an attempt to investigate the effects of induced stress on anxiety, learning and performance, the separate effects on the learning and performance phases were obtained by varying the timing of the introduction and the removal of stressinducing instructions. Stess-inducing instructions had a positive effect on learning but were not significantly related to the level of anxiety in the learning phase. In the performance phase the results were reversed, i.e. the stress-inducing instructions had a significantly positive effect on the level of anxiety but none on performance. The apparent paradox stemming from the significant negative relationship between anxiety and achievement within conditions could be resolved by considering the common confusion concerning statistical vs. causal relationship.     

The influence of word frequency on recency effects in directed free recall

Leading theoretical explanations of recency effects are designed to explain the reported absence of a word frequency effect on recall of words from recency serial positions. The present study used a directed free-recall procedure (J. J. Dalezman, 1976) and manipulated the frequency composition of the word lists (pure and mixed). Overall, with pure lists, a greater proportion of high-frequency (HF) words were recalled than low-frequency (LF) words, and with mixed lists, a greater proportion of LF words were recalled than HF words. Of importance, this recall advantage for one frequency over the other as a function of list composition was evident across the last three serial positions, indicating an influence of word frequency on recency effects that is dependent on the frequency composition of the lists. These results challenge one of the major assumptions on which several theories of recency effects have been based.     

Metacognition and learning about primacy and recency effects in free recall: The utilization of intrinsic and extrinsic cues when making judgments of learning

Although memory researchers know about primacy and recency effects, it is unclear whether students are aware of these effects and incorporate them when making judgments of learning (JOLs). The present research examined how participants use serial position information (extrinsic cues) when making JOLs after studying each item and showed that participants rely on the intrinsic qualities of the items and underestimate primacy and recency effects. However, when participants made JOLs prior to studying each item and engaged in multiple study-test sessions, their JOLs accurately reflected recall, as well as when serial position information was explicitly provided during the study phase. The findings are interpreted in a cue utilization framework and suggest that under certain conditions, participants can predict primacy and recency effects.     

A functional relation between learning and organization in free recall

It is well known that multitrial free recall is accompanied by increased organization of output over learning trials, even when the order of presentation is randomized. We compared the relation between learning and organization in 30 young and 30 older adults as they learned categorized materials to a criterion of 100% recall. The importance of this age manipulation was that it allowed us to examine, using two groups that differ significantly in their learning ability, whether organization and learning follow the same function. As was expected, older adults showed less organization on any given learning trial. However, when equated for degree of learning, the older adults showed approximately the same level of organization as the young. This finding suggests that the organization-learning relation remains invariant in the face of significant differences in participants’ mnemonic abilities.     

Interpreting semantic clustering effects in free recall

The order in which participants choose to recall words from a studied list of randomly selected words provides insights into how memories of the words are represented, organised, and retrieved. One pervasive finding is that when a pair of semantically related words (e.g., "cat" and "dog") is embedded in the studied list, the related words are often recalled successively. This tendency to successively recall semantically related words is termed semantic clustering (Bousfield, 1953; Bousfield & Sedgewick, 1944; Cofer, Bruce, & Reicher, 1966). Measuring semantic clustering effects requires making assumptions about which words participants consider to be similar in meaning. However, it is often difficult to gain insights into individual participants' internal semantic models, and for this reason researchers typically rely on standardised semantic similarity metrics. Here we use simulations to gain insights into the expected magnitudes of semantic clustering effects given systematic differences between participants' internal similarity models and the similarity metric used to quantify the degree of semantic clustering. Our results provide a number of useful insights into the interpretation of semantic clustering effects in free recall.