Abstract
In three experiments the free recall of rapidly presented word strings was studied. The word strings were shown either in grammatical order or a scrambled order. It was found that the invariance of recall with various presentation times for grammatical sequences breaks down at presentation times between 175 and 250 msec. The order of recall, however, remains consistent with the type of sequence presented irrespective of presentation time. The amount of time requked to utilize syntactic information fully in free recall is of approximately the same order of magnitude as that required to read the words.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Averbach, E., & Coriell, A. S. Short-term memory in vision. Bell System Technical Journal, 1961, 40, 309–328.
Cooper, E. H., & Pantle, A. J. The total-time hypothesis in verbal learning. Psychological Bulletin, 1967, 68, 221–234.
Deese, J., & Kaufman, R. A. Serial effects in recall of unorganized and sequentially organized verbal material. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1957, 54, 180–187.
Haber, R. N. How we remember what we see. Scientific American, 1970, 2212, 104–112.
King, D. J. Influence of interitem interval in the learning of connected discourse. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1971, 87, 132–134.
Murdock, B. B., Jr. The serial position effect of free recall. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1962, 64, 482–488.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pfafflin, S.M. The total time hypothesis, recall strategies, and memory for rapidly presented word strings. Memory & Cognition 2, 236–240 (1974). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03208989
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03208989