Rate and frequency as determinants of learning with complete and discrete list presentation

In Experiment 1, complete presentation of the study list produced better free recall learning than did the usual item-by-item (discrete) presentation. The difference was large and held for items occurring one, two, or three times within a list, whether items were spaced or massed, and for discrete presentation rates of 2, 4, and 6 sec/item. Experiment 2 replicated this superiority of complete over discrete presentation (equating total study time), and Experiment 3 extended the finding to paired associate learning. Experiments 2 and 3 indicated that multiple presentations of a list at fast rates were superior to a single presentation at a more standard rate and only slightly inferior to a single, complete presentation. Practical implications for instruction were pointed out, as were problems that certain of the results pose for theories that emphasize strategic (or at least extended) processing of items for encoding.