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Science 7 May 1971:
Vol. 172. no. 3983, pp. 597 - 599
DOI: 10.1126/science.172.3983.597
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Articles

Free Recall and Abstractness of Stimuli

William Bevan 1 and Joseph A. Steger 2

1 Department of Psychology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218
2 Department of Psychology, State University of New York at Albany, Albany 12205

The relation of abstractness of stimuli to efficiency of free recall was studied in college and fourth-grade students. Groups were shown a sequence of objects, pictures, and object names and were asked to recall what they had seen. Recall tests were conducted either immediately after presentation of the stimulus-sequence, after 24 hours, or after 1 week. Objects were recalled more frequently than pictures, and pictures more frequently than words. Adults performed better than children, except in the case of objects.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
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Sociological Methods Research 18, 200-242
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Imagery and Children's Learning: Putting the Picture in Developmental Perspective.
M. Pressley (1977)
Review of Educational Research 47, 585-622
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Visual Free Recall.
R. M. Shiffrin (1973)
Science 180, 980-982
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)