Abstract
3 procedures for selecting lists of unrelated words were evaluated in two experiments. The procedures were based on (a) Deese's (1959) normatively established “Zero” interitem associative strength, (b) the consensual judgment of several Es, and (c) random selection from a dictionary. Judged by recall criteria, all these methods were equally appropriate, random selection being least laborious. However, considerable intra-method variability in list difficulty was found. Thus, whenever comparisons involve several list conditions, more than one list should be used in each condition. Negative effects on recall of including several parts of speech or very low-frequency items in a list suggested that it is desirable to control these features in selecting stimulus words.
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