The focus of this report was the degree of independence of memory attributes in determining performance. A demonstration experiment indicated that memory can carry an associative attribute and a frequency attribute simultaneously with little interaction between the two, that is, they were independent in their influence on performance. The…

If a series of verbal units is presented for study, and if a unit occurs two or more times in the series, the practice schedule for these multiple occurrences may be massed or distributed. In massed practice (MP) the item occupies adjacent positions; in distributed practice (DP) successive occurences are separated by at least one other unit. The…

Three clearly distinguishable lists were given simultaneously for learning. In one condition, subjects recalled all three lists; in a second condition, each list was given a different type of retention test although one of the lists was recalled. All subjects were fully informed of the materials and tests. The critical interest was in the recall…

Three experiments tested the generality of the conclusion that associative unlearning is minimal in the A-B, A-D paradigm. In Experiment 1, single-trial study of A-D, following single-trial study of A-B, did not produce retroactive inhibition in the recognition of A-B. In Experiment 2, A-B was acquired by associative matching. The interpolated…

Tests the theory that culturally associated words in a pair and nonassociated words in a pair differ after a single study trial in terms of their frequency representation in memory. (Editor/RK)

Little is known about the accuracy of temporal codes for memories, and still less about the nature of the codes. This report addresses the central question of the mechanisms by which order information is attached to memories. The results of 16 experiments indicate the role of some independent variables on temporal coding in relatively short-term…

This study examines interrelationships among several episodic memory tasks, particularly correlations among various attributes of memory: imagery, associative, acoustic, temporal, affective, and frequency. Undergraduates completed 28 episodic memory tests using tasks such as free recall, paired associates, classical recognition, and memory span.…

The central question of this report concerned the role of formal similarity in free recall of lists of trigrams and lists of three-letter word triads. Similarity was manipulated among trigrams by duplicating words. An initial study showed that lists of 16 letters were learned more rapidly than a list of 16 three-letter words. Therefore, in the…

This study examined the interrelationships among a number of episodic memory tasks and among various attributes of memory. A sample of 200 college students was tested for ten sessions; 28 different measures of episodic memory were obtained. In addition, five measures of semantic memory were available. Results indicated that episodic and semantic…

Subjects learned one, two, or three verbal lists simultaneously. Recall of the common list after 24 hours increased directly as the number of lists learned simultaneously increased. Assuming that simultaneous learning reduced interference, the interference was from extraexperimental sources of a proactive nature. (Author/CP)

This research on factors influencing verbal learning and retention has used new techniques, attacked new problems, and tested new theories while trying to keep the experiments systematic. Studies conducted involved (1) the effect of varying the length of the intertrial interval on the learning and retention of different types of learning tasks;…