Responses are slower in two-choice tasks when either a previous stimulus feature or the previous response repeats than when all features repeat or all features change. Current views of action control posit that such partial repetition costs (PRCs) index the time to update a prior "binding" between a stimulus feature and the response or…

An experienced cello soloist recorded her practice as she learned and memorized the Prelude from J.S. Bach's Suite No. 6 for solo cello and gave 10 public performances over a period of more than three years. She described the musical structure, decisions about basic technique (e.g., bowing), interpretation (e.g., dynamics), and five kinds of…

Research on retrieval-induced forgetting has demonstrated that retrieving some information from memory can cause the forgetting of other information in memory. Here, the authors report research on the relearning of items that have been subjected to retrieval-induced forgetting. Participants studied a list of category-exemplar pairs, underwent a…

When students ask for a study advice, many professors would say something like this: "Read carefully. Write down unfamiliar terms and look up their meanings. Make an outline. Reread each chapter." That's not terrible advice. Some scientists would say that professors left out the most important step: "Put the book aside and hide the notes. Then…

Subjects asked to recall the 20 items and (not necessarily in) their order on a list took 34 percent fewer trials to learn the list to three perfect trials than did subjects who were asked just to recall the items. (Editor)

This study presents a systematic investigation of three factors which seem necessary to initial success in obtaining recall facilitation when list member cues are presented during free recall. (Author/KM)

Control of the mechanisms of memory may eventually come to pass, thanks to ingenious new research with goldfish and rats. (Editor)

The study compared multiple-list transfer (from three training lists) and single-list transfer (from one training list), with total amount of training held constant (at 3, 12, or 36 trials) and with each A-B' and A'-B training list at the same level of similarity to the transfer list. (Editor)

Thirty-two male undergraduates were given a paired-associate list and then tested for recall either 2 min. or 45 min. later. Arousal level at time of learning was manipulated by E observing some Ss. (Editor)

If the contextual similarity between learning and recall within a single trial in a short-term memory (STM) paradigm is varied, recall varies proportionately. This context effect was demonstrated using variations of the Peterson-Peterson (1959) paradigm for both aurally and visually presented material, verbal and arithmetic context, and within and…

The author describes a mnemonic technique for remembering people's names. This method was developed by H. Lorayne (1958) and illustrates the effective use of image cues for improving memory. (RK)

Two experiments are reported in which recall of the same information is compared following different priming passages. In one case the subjects were primed by material that was consistent with the content of the main passage; in a second case, the priming introduced information in conflict with it. It was found that inconsistent priming led to…

Learning material was presented to independent groups of subjects either after arousal from non-Rapid Eye Movement (non-REM) sleep, after arousal from REM sleep, or under conditions of no prior sleep. Measures of immediate and subsequent free recall were taken. (Editor)