The Effects of Presentation and Recall of Material in Free - Recall Learning 1

The results of two free-recall learning experiments, in which the number and sequential combinations of input and output phases were systematically varied, indicated that (a) recall tests facilitate the overall immediate post-input recall approximately to the same extent as do the events occurring in input phases, (b) input and output events are approximately equally responsible for forgetting of individual items from one output phase to another, (c) the earlier contention that intratrial retention remains constant over trials is untenable, and (d) recall of individual items is quite labile even when overall recall is stable. The findings were interpreted in support of the view of memory as a limited-capacity retrieval system in which the limit is set by the number, but not by the nature of the contents, of accessible memory units.