First-Letter Clues in the Retrieval of Proper Names from Long-Term Memory

Abstract

Each of four experiments required retrieval of proper names from long-term memory. In Exps. I and II a picture of a well-known person was presented on each of a series of discrete trials and S was to say, as rapidly as possible, the surname of the person pictured. on each trial of Exps. III and IV S was given a book title, or titles, and asked to say the surname of the author. In some of the conditions the first letter of the target name was provided, and in some it was not. The results of each experiment indicated a small, but reliable, facilitation of name recall by a first-letter clue; the magnitude of the effect was independent of the class of stimulus materials and of other experimental conditions. In Exp. III, three titles corresponding to each author were rank-ordered by S according to their degree of association with the author. Exp. IV indicated that the proportion correct was higher and that the latency of correct responses was shorter, when a single-title stimulus was of high association with the author than when that association was of low strength. The clue effect in the latter experiment did not interact with the degree of association between the title and the author. It was suggested that the clue effect was not larger because, for those names he was likely to recall, S had considerable first-letter information available before presentation of the clue.