Short-term Temporal Changes in Free Recall

1965 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 132-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leo Postman ◽  
Laura W. Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Free Recall ◽  
Retention Interval ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Proactive Inhibition ◽  
Initial Part ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Absolute Level ◽  
Large Measure ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Counting Task

An experimental study of short-term memory for lists of familiar English words is reported. Lists of 10, 20, and 30 unrelated words were presented at a 1-sec. rate. Retention was measured by free recall after intervals of 0, 15 and 30 sec. A counting task was used to prevent rehearsal during the retention interval. The absolute level of recall increased with length of list whereas the percentages retained showed the reverse trend. The recall scores decreased steadily as a function of retention interval, with the rates of forgetting comparable for the three lengths of list. The decline in the amount recalled was due in large measure to the loss of the terminal items in the list. Consequently, the pronounced recency effect present on the immediate test of recall was progressively reduced as a function of time. By contrast retention of the initial part of the list was relatively stable. These variations in rate of forgetting are attributed to differences among serial positions in susceptibility to proactive inhibition.

Effect of Recall Condition, Presentation Rate and Retention Interval on Short-Term Memory

1965 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 877-883 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas L. Rohrman ◽  
John C. Jahnke
Keyword(s):  
Free Recall ◽  
Retention Interval ◽  
University Students ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Presentation Rate ◽  
Recall Condition ◽  
Significant Variable ◽  
Order Information ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory

A total of 300 university students were presented a brief list of non-alphanumeric items and instructed to recall immediately either the items (free recall, FR), the order in which the items were presented (order recall, OR), or both (serial recall, SR). Presentation rate and retention interval were additional experimental variables in Exp. I and II, respectively. In both experiments significant differences in recall were found between FR conditions and the remaining two, which did not differ from each other. More items were recalled at the slow than fas: rate. Retention interval was not a significant variable. Results suggest that retention will improve when order information is eliminated from recall (Brown, 1958), that the recall of item and order information involve at least partially independent memory processes, and that, while the recall of items may proceed independently of the recall of their order, the converse is not true.

Short-Term Memory for Colors and Color Names

1983 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 579-582 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles K. Allen
Keyword(s):  
Retention Interval ◽  
Test Trial ◽  
Opposite Direction ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Proactive Inhibition ◽  
Dual Coding ◽  
Control Groups ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
The Way

The Brown-Peterson paradigm was used to study the way colors and color names are encoded in memory. Three colored strips or the names of the 3 colors were presented on each of 4 trials. The 30-sec. retention interval was filled with number counting. Two control groups received the same material, either colors or names of colors, on all 4 trials. Two experimental groups were shifted from color names to colors or from colors to color names on test trial 4. The results indicated that (1) proactive inhibition developed to both colors and color names, (2) recall of colors was superior to color names, and (3) release from proactive inhibition was found in the group shifted from color names to colors but not in the group shifted in the opposite direction. The results were discussed in terms of the dual-coding hypothesis developed by Paivio.

The Role of Stimulus Material in Determining Release from Proactive Inhibition

1976 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 395-402 ◽  
Author(s):  
John M. Gardiner ◽  
Hilary Klee ◽  
Graham Redman ◽  
Michael Ball
Keyword(s):  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Proactive Inhibition ◽  
Stimulus Material ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Colour Feature ◽  
Release Data ◽  
Memory Codes ◽  
Relative Salience

The release from proactive inhibition (PI) paradigm has been widely used as a technique for exploring the encoding dimensions of short-term memory for verbal items. PI release data have been used not only to infer particular memory codes but also to index their relative salience. In the present study, the effects of manipulating the colour (red or black) in which the stimulus material is printed were investigated in two separate experiments. No release effect was obtained in the first, where common two-syllable words were presented. In the second, where consonant trigrams were presented, a large effect was found. Since the same colour feature was manipulated in each experiment, it is argued that this pattern of results has serious implications for the use of PI release data as a technique for mapping the encoding dimensions of short-term memory.

Effects of Temporal Grouping on Multi-Trial Free Recall

1976 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 827-833 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fred Frankel ◽  
Steven G. Ames
Keyword(s):  
Free Recall ◽  
Memory Consolidation ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Constant Rate ◽  
Temporal Grouping ◽  
Word Lists ◽  
Presentation Time

In two experiments, subjects were given 4 presentations of a list divided temporally into 5 groups of 3 items each (grouped) or received the same word lists at a constant rate of presentation (ungrouped) and matched for over-all presentation time. Grouped presentation enhanced recall only in the later serial positions while decreasing recall in the middle serial positions. Results of Exp. I also showed differences in order of recall. The results of Exp. II demonstrated that order of recall was not related to the differences in recall produced by grouping. Implications for short-term memory and memory consolidation were discussed.

Pupillary Measurement and Release from Proactive Inhibition

1975 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 835-842 ◽  
Author(s):  
Randall Engle
Keyword(s):  
Pupil Size ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Proactive Inhibition ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Better Than

One of the explanations of release from proactive inhibition in short-term memory is that the subjects re-attend to the items on the release trial because the items are different from the previous ones. It is further assumed that this increase in attention causes the release items to be learned better than the preceding items. This experiment measured the pupils of the subjects' eyes while they were participating in a proactive-inhibition release-type task. The results showed no increase in attention, as indexed by pupil size, on the release trial. This did not support the attentional explanation of the proactive-inhibition release phenomenon.

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