Auditory Prompting in Assessing Availability of Responses in Recall

Abstract

A measurement procedure was described for assessing response-availability in a quantitatively continuous fashion, based upon the use of auditory prompts and the assumption that the greater the amplitude of prompting required the less available is the response. Experimental data showed the signal-to-noise ratio of auditory prompts required for recall was inversely related to the number of practice trials. Those items which Ss never correctly anticipated during training required a higher prompting level than those which had been anticipated at least once. Successive recall opportunities without prompting did not improve the level of recall.