Abstract
Photographic slides of 18 categories of common objects were presented to 24 male and 24 female Ss, who were divided into four groups receiving one, two, three, or four separate presentations of each category. For half of the categories (V categories) up to four different specimens represented the category; for the other half (R categories) the same specimen was repeated up to four times. Recall was tested both immediately and after a delay of approximately 2 weeks. For immediate recall the V categories were recalled best, and recall was a positive function of number of presentations. The R categories were recalled less after two and three presentations than after one, but recall increased with the fourth presentation. Similar findings were obtained in 2-week recall, although there was no overall effect of variety, and interpretation of the findings was complicated by significant two-way interactions between sex and variety and sex and repetitions, as well as a significant main effect of sex.
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This research was partly supported by funds from the National Science Foundation, Grant No. GU 2751, to Georgia State University. Requests for reprints should be directed to Dr. Walter F. Daves, Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, 33 Gilmer Street, S.E., Atlanta, Georgia 30303.
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Daves, W.F., Rinn, R.C. Free recall of object categories as a function of number of presentations of varied or repeated specimens. Psychon Sci 22, 203–205 (1971). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03332569
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03332569