This experiment investigated whether grouping of related words is a slow or a fast process. A list of categorizable words were presented to 8 groups of 10 subjects each. The words were grouped or ungrouped and presented at a fast or a slow rate. Recall was cued with category labels or uncued. Presentation rate significantly interacted with mode of presentation. At the fast rate more grouped than ungrouped words were recalled. This difference was not found at the slow rate. The results were interpreted as showing that subjects actively grouped related words and that this grouping is a slow process.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
DalletK. M.Number of categories and category information in free recall. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1964, 68, 1–12.
2.
FolarinB. A.The effect of presentation rate on categorization. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1976, 28, 27–33.
3.
GlanzerM.Distance between related words in free recall: trace of STS. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 1969, 8, 105–111.
4.
LewisM. Q.Cue effectiveness in cued recall. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1974, 102, 737–739.
5.
RobertsW. A.Free recall of word lists varying in length and rate of presentation: a test of total-time hypothesis. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1972, 92, 365–372.
6.
SowderC. D.Recall of categorized lists as a function of organization, associative frequency, cues at recall and inter-trial variability of order. Psychological Reports, 1978, 42, 75–78.
