In each of three experiments, different lists of synonymous and minimally related adjectives were presented to groups of subjects for multi-trial free recall. The results in Exp. 1 supported the hypothesized interaction of synonymity and list length on recall and organization, predicting impaired performance on long lists of synonyms. Two partial replications (Exps. 2 and 3) obtained negative results. In Exp. 4 five measures of semantic cohesiveness were employed to verify the presence of a high degree of semantic similarity in the three experimental lists of synonymous adjectives. It was concluded that list synonymity has a differential effect primarily on the retrieval strategies employed and that subjects are still able to achieve optimal recall and organization with lists of high intralist similarity.
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