Paced and Unpaced Output and Retroactive Inhibition in Free Recall

Abstract

Separate and simultaneous free recall of two lists containing both repeated and nonrepeated category words were compared under paced and unpaced conditions. 84 undergraduates served as subjects. Retroactive inhibition, measured as loss between original learning and final recall, was greater for separate recall than simultaneous, greater for paced recall than unpaced, and greater for nonrepeated than repeated categories. The recall test and pacing conditions interacted, as separate recall yielded greater retroactive inhibition than simultaneous with paced but not with unpaced recall. The unusual finding of greater retroactive inhibition in nonrepeated categories was attributed to the relatively large number of small categories. The interaction of recall test and pacing may indicate that a temporal effect has been mistaken for a recall-test effect in previous studies.