Abstract
Lists composed of six pairs of categorically related associates (CA) and six pairs of categorically unrelated associates (UA) were presented to Ss for free recall. Presentation order was varied between groups by controlling the number of items (0, 1, 2, 3, or 5) intervening between associates. Recall and clustering were greater for CA words than for UA words, but only with noncontiguous presentation of associates. The locus of the recall effect was in the number of items recalled per pair rather than in the number of pairs represented in recall. The results were considered supportive of the hypothesis that in the absence of blocked presentation, categorically related items are more likely to be experienced contiguously (functional contiguity) than are categorically unrelated items.
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Manuscript preparation was supported by a postdoctoral fellowship awarded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development taken at the Institute of Human Learning, University of California, Berkeley.
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Basden, D.R. Recall and clustering as a function of categorization and distance between related items. Psychon Sci 25, 331–333 (1971). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03335895
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03335895