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Is output order in free recall based on the strength of the memory trace or on the subject strategies and depth of coding employed?
Author(s) -
Morris Peter E.
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
british journal of psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.536
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 2044-8295
pISSN - 0007-1269
DOI - 10.1111/j.2044-8295.1977.tb01610.x
Subject(s) - serial position effect , recall , free recall , recall test , encoding (memory) , trace (psycholinguistics) , psychology , cognitive psychology , context dependent memory , levels of processing effect , coding (social sciences) , encoding specificity principle , cognition , statistics , linguistics , mathematics , neuroscience , philosophy
If output in free recall proceeds from items with strong to those with weak memory traces then Craik's (1970) finding is paradoxical. He reported that probability of recall at a later test increases with output position in the first recall attempt. Does recall order depend on depth of encoding and retrieval strategy rather than trace strength? Examination of recall order and the serial position of the first item retrieved in a conventional free recall experiment supported the hypothesis that the Craik effect occurs because on the initial test the items output early are superficially encoded while the last few items are semantically processed. By preventing superficial encoding and encouraging semantic processing the Craik effect was eliminated. There was no evidence for a trace strength explanation of recall order.