Theories of human memory which stress the importance of optional study processes predict that the spacing of repetitions will affect the free recall of twice-presented words only under intentional learning. The present investigation, involving 36 subjects, compared the “spacing effect” obtained with incidental learning to that obtained with intentional learning. That the level of free recall increased as a positive function of the spacing interval under both types of learning upheld hypotheses which attribute the spacing phenomenon to obligatory, or automatic, processes.
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