Abstract
In two experiments, subjects recalled one of two letter segments following a digit-filled retention interval. In Experiment 1, recall expectancy was manipulated by using precues that correctly informed or misinformed subjects concerning which letter segment wou;d be tested for recall. In Experiment 2, item importance was varied by precuing one segment as important but requiring that the uncued segment be recalled first. Recall performance was very low under conditions of low expectancy and low segment importance, but the slopes of the retention-functions did not demonstrate more rapid forgetting than under standard -conditions. The previous observations of very rapid forgetting from primary memory may be a function of an elevated initial recall level in the earlier studies. Our retention functions were compared with predictions of the Estes perturbation model. The findings suggested that when secondary memory processes were reduced, forgetting order information from primary memory occurred at the same rate as that estimated on the basis of previous studies using the standard distractor task.
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Experiment 1 was conducted at the University of Colorado, Boulder, where R.E.T. was on sabbatical leave 1984–1985. The research was supported in part by National Science Foundation Grant BNS80-25020 and Army Research Institute Contract MDA903-90-K-0066 to the Institute of Cognitive Science at the University of Colorado; by Biomedical Research Support Grant RR07013-16 awarded to the University of Colorado by the Biomedical Research Support Grant Program, Division of Research Resources, National Institutes of Health; by a research contract from the United States Air Force subcontracted from Universal Energy Systems to the Institute of Cognitive Science at the University of Colorado; and by special research funds provided through a Faculty Research Award from St. Lawrence University.
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Cunningham, T.F., Healy, A.F., Till, R.E. et al. Is there really very rapid forgetting from primary memory? The role of expectancy and item importance in short-term recall. Memory & Cognition 21, 671–688 (1993). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03197198
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03197198