The influence of encoding manipulations on the dynamics of free recall

Abstract

In three experiments, the influence of various encoding manipulations on the dynamics of free recall were investigated. In Experiment 1, increasing study time increased the number of items recalled with no change in recall latency. In Experiment 2, a levels-of-processing manipulation increased the number of items recalled with no change in recall latency. Finally, in Experiment 3, massed presentations of items increased the number of items recalled with no change in recall latency; however, spaced presentations of items increased both the number of items recalled and recall latency. These results suggest that some encoding manipulations serve to increase the absolute strength of items, whereas other encoding manipulations create copies of target items. In both cases, the number of items recalled is increased, but differences arise in recall latency. These results point to the importance of examining both the number of items recalled and recall latency as means of better understanding encoding and retrieval processes that lead to successful remembering.