Psychology ETDs

Publication Date

9-1-1977

Abstract

Two experiments investigated the contributions of storage and retrieval to the retention of a categorized word list by varying the number of successive study or test trials. The logic behind this approach was based on the assumption that storage and retrieval are tied to study and test trials respectively. Therefore, the results of the study trial manipulation could be used to make inferences about the contributions of storage, while the results of the test trial manipulation could be used to make inferences about the contributions of retrieval. Retention of both categories and words within a category was assessed in a retroactive interference task. In Experiment I, subjects were given one, three, or five successive test trials on the first list. This was then combined factorially with two interference conditions. In the OLD interference condition, subjects were required to learn two interference lists, where the words were selected from the same categories as those used on the first list. In the NEW interference condition, subjects were also required to learn two lists but, in this condition, the words were selected from new categories. The OLD interference condition was designed to produce forgetting of words within a category, whereas the NEW interference condition was designed to produce forgetting of entire categories. Memory for the first list was assessed in a retention test, where subjects were asked to recall as many of the words as they could from the three lists they had seen. Experiment II was identical to Experiment I except that the number of first list study trials (one, three, or five) was varied rather than the number of test trials. The results of the two experiments paralleled one another: The number of categories forgotten and the number of words per category forgotten were both a decreasing function of the number of study trials and the number of test trials. Furthermore, the statistical comparison of the two experiments indicated that study and test trials were equally effective in reducing forgetting. These results raised the question of how storage and retrieval could have the same effect on retention when they serve different functions in memory. One answer was presented in the context of a hierarchical model of free recall learning, where both storage and retrieval strengthen the associations between the various levels of the hierarchy. A second answer questioned the assumption that storage and retrieval are tied exclusively to study and test trials.

Degree Name

Psychology

Level of Degree

Doctoral

Department Name

Psychology

First Committee Member (Chair)

Henry Carleton Ellis

Second Committee Member

G. Robert Grice

Third Committee Member

Harold D. Delaney

Fourth Committee Member

Thomas Patrick Friden

Fifth Committee Member

Joseph Anthony Parsons

Language

English

Document Type

Dissertation

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