The Antecedents of Retrieval Inhibition

The subjects were given one of three types of retrieval tests—free-recall, part-list cued-recall, or part-set cued-recall—in a modified directed-remembering study. A directed-remembering effect occurred for free-recall but not for cued-recall, and a blocking effect occurred with “remember” words but not with “forget” words. These results suggested that the same retrieval cues that initiate blocking may alter the impact of the directed-remembering effect.