NOUN IMAGERY AND MEANINGFULNESS IN FREE AND SERIAL RECALL

4 experiments compare the effects of noun imagery (I) and meaningfulness (m) in free recall (FR) and serial recall (SR) learning. 1 set of 24 stimulus items comprised equal members of high-I and low-I nouns with equal m values; another 24, high and low m with equal I. 1 of 2 FR experiments involved 24-item lists that were mixed with respect to attribute level; the other, 12-item homogeneous lists. Interaction effects in both FR experiments indicated that the positive effect of I significantly exceeded that of m. 2 SR experiments, involving the 12-item lists only, also yielded positive effects for both attributes, but in this case I was not significantly more effective than m. Results are compared to those previously obtained in paired-associate learning studies for these variables, and discussed in terms of the relative contributions of imaginal and verbal coding (or mediating) processes in the different tasks. (16 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1969 American Psychological Association.