Abstract
A list of 14 synonymous and one of 14 minimally related adjectives were presented to respective groups for 16 multitrial free recall trials. Analyses of the two sets of data failed to reveal noteworthy differences either in item retention or in sequential ordering of recall. The results indicated that Ss given synonyms relied, to an appreciable degree, on the formal characteristics of the words as memory attributes, whereas those given nonsynonymous words responded more to minimal interitem associations. It was hypothesized that the differential effects of synonymity on performance depends mainly on list length.
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Bousfield, W.A., Abramczyk, R.R. & Stein, D.K. The effects of synonymity on item recall and sequential ordering in multitrial free recall. Psychon Sci 23, 173–175 (1971). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03336062
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03336062