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WHEN DO FIRST LETTER MNEMONICS AID RECALL? *
Author(s) -
MORRIS P. E.,
COOK N.
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
british journal of educational psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.557
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 2044-8279
pISSN - 0007-0998
DOI - 10.1111/j.2044-8279.1978.tb02366.x
Subject(s) - mnemonic , recall , psychology , cognitive psychology , social psychology , developmental psychology
S ummary . First letter mnemonics are popular but they have failed to improve recall in several studies. In Experiment I the effectiveness of experimenter and subject generated mnemonics and concrete and abstract mnemonic words were compared using a sample of 30 undergraduates. There was no improvement in recall. It was hypothesised that the general failure of experimental studies of the mnemonic may result from the use of unrelated words as learning material. The mnemonic may help retain order but not aid retrieval. In Experiment II, when a random ordering of the days of the week had to be retained, first letter mnemonics considerably improved recall among a sample of 36 undergraduates. The mnemonic does, therefore, aid recall when the items are known but their ordering presents problems.