How recall facilitates subsequent recall: A reappraisal

A series of 3 experiments conducted with a total of 240 undergraduates reexamined the factors underlying the effect of recall trials on subsequent recall. In a free-recall memory task, Ss were given a series of presentation trials or recall trials following initial presentation and later tested for long-term retention. Overall results support the hypothesis that recall trials provide information about the recallability of each item and provide a re-presentation of each item recalled. These results are inconsistent with the notion that some retrieval process (e.g., learning to locate an item in memory) facilitates subsequent recall. Some apparently contradictory evidence is experimentally reconciled with this hypothesis, and some problems involved in interpreting other evidence are discussed. (16 ref)