Abstract
In two experiments subjects presented with either words or pictures showed improved recall over three successive recall tests for both types of materials, partially replicating Erdelyi’s finding of hypermnesia. However, these subjects did not recall more unique items than other subjects who received only one test equated in time with the three shorter ones. It is concluded that hypermnesia results from simply allowing subjects additional recall time. In a third experiment subjects were shown to recall additional information even after a long recall period employed during an experimental session. This surprising amount of item recovery during long recall periods is attributed to the use of subjective retrieval cues that are thought to function in a manner analogous to externally manipulated cues.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Reference Note
Erdelyi, M. H.Has Ebbinghaus decayed with time? Paper presented at the meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Washington, D.C., November 1977.
References
Ammons, H., &Irion, A. L. A note on the Ballard reminiscence phenomenon.Journal of Experimental Psychology. 1954,48, 184–186.
Ballard, P. B. Oblivescence and reminiscence.Brish Journal of Psychology Monograph Supplements. 1913,1, No. 2.
Bransford, J. D., McCarrell. N. S., Franks, J. J., &Nitsch, K. E. Toward unexplaining memory. In R. Shaw & J. D. Bransford (Eds.).Perceiving, acting and knowing. Hillsdale, N. J: Laurence Erlbaum. 1977.
Brown, W. To that extent ts memory measured by a single recall?Journal of Experimental Psychology. 1923,6, 377–382.
Buschke, H. Selective reminding in the analysis of learning and memory.Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior. 1973,12, 543–550.
Buxton, H. Spontaneous remembering after recall failure.Science. 1974,184, 579–581.
Buxton, C. E. The status of research in reminscencePsychological Bulletin. 1943,40, 313–340.
Donaldson, W. Output effects in multitrial free recall.Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 1971,10. 577–585.
Erdelyi, M. H., &Becker, J. Hypermnesia for pictures: Incremental memory for pictures but not words m multiple recall trials.Cognitive Psychology, 1974,6, 159–171.
Erdelyi, M. H., Buschke, H., &Finkelstein, S. Hypermnesia for Socratic stimuli: The growth of recall for an internally generated memory list abstracted from a series of riddles.Memory & Cognition. 1977,5, 283–286
Erdelyi, M. H., Finkelstein, S., Herrell, N., Miller, B., &Thomas, J. Coding modality vs. input modality in hypermnesia: Is a rose a rose a rose?Cognition 1976,4, 311–319.
Estes, W. K. Statistical theory of spontaneous regression and recovery.Psychological Review. 1955,62, 145–154.
Madigan, S. Reminiscence and item recovery in free recall.Memory & Cognition. 1976,4, 233–236.
Nelson, T. O., &MacLeod, C. M. Fluctuations in recall across successive test trials.Memory & Cognition. 1974,2. 687–690.
Paivio, A., & Yuille, J. C., & Madigan, S. Concreteness, imagery, and meaningfulness values for 925 concrete nouns.Journal of Experimental Psychology Monograph Supplement, 1968,76(1. Part 2).
Roediger, H. L. lnhibiting effects of recall.Memory & Cognition, 1974,2, 261–269.
Roediger, H. L. Recall as a selt-limiting process.Memory & Cognition, 1978,6, 54–63.
Roediger, H. L., Stellon, C., &Tulving, E. lnhibition from part cues and rate of recall.Journal ol Experimental Psychology Human Learning and Memory. 1977,3, 174–188.
Rundus, D. Negative effects of using list items as recall cues.Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 1973,12, 43–50.
Shapiro, S. R., &Erdelyi, M. H. Hypermnesia for pictures but not words.Journal of Experimental Psychology. 1974,103, 1218–1219.
Shiffrin, R. M. Memory search. In D. A. Norman (Ed.).Models of human memory. New York Academic Press. 1970, Pp. 375–447
Tulving, E. The effects of presentation and recall in free recall learning.Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavtor, 1967,6, 175–184.
Iulving, E. Cue-dependent forgetting.American Scientist. 1974,62, 74–82.
Tulving, E., &Pearlstone, Z. Availability versus accessibility of information in memory for words.Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 1966,5, 381–391.
Tulving, E., &Psotka, J. Retroactive inhibition in free recall, lnaccessibility of information available in the memory store.Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1971,87. 1–8.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This paper was written while the first author was on leave at the University of Toronto. This research was supported in part by Grant A8632 from the National Research Council of Canada to Endel Tulving.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
L. Roediger, H., A. Thorpe, L. The role of recall time in producing hypermnesia. Memory & Cognition 6, 296–305 (1978). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03197459
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03197459