BACKWARD RECALL AS A FUNCTION OF STIMULUS SIMILARITY

In 2 experiments, Ss mastered 8-pair paired-associate lists containing 4 highly similar and 4 dissimilar CCC trigram stimuli paired with 8 single-digit responses. The Ss were tested for backward recall after reaching mastery of the list. Backward recall of the similar items was superior to that of the dissimilar items. This outcome was predicted by discrimination net theory. On the similar stimuli, Ss recalled all 3 letters about 70% of the time. On the dissimilar stimuli, Ss recalled 1, 2, and 3 letters about equally often, and the letter in position 1 was recalled more frequently than those in positions 2 and 3. © 1969 Academic Press Inc. All rights reserved.