Effects of Verbal Study-Strategies on the Free Recall and Recognition of Concrete and Abstract Nouns

Abstract

The present experiment tested a portion of Paivio's (1969) dual processing theory which suggested “a verbal mediational set should be equally effective with concrete or abstract items.” 23 subjects learned lists of 15 concrete and 15 abstract nouns using each of four verbal study-strategies: rote repetition, word association, dictionary definition, and sentence generation. Following immediate recall tests on each 15-item list, a final recall test for all 120 nouns and a recognition test were given. In immediate recall, more concrete words were recalled than abstract words, with no differences due to study-strategy, as Paivio's theory suggested. However, in final recall, differences were found between concrete and abstract nouns only under dictionary definition and sentence generation. In recognition, more concrete than abstract nouns were recognized, but the three mediational strategies all proved superior to the non-mediational rote-repetition strategy.