THE EFFECT OF ENCODING TASK ON MEMORY FOR SENTENCE PAIRS VARYING IN CAUSAL RELATEDNESS

Subjects read pairs of sentences varying in degree of causal relatedness and then recalled one sentence of each pair given the other as cue. When subjects read for comprehension, recall was a quadratic function of causal relatedness. When subjects wrote an elaboration sentence for each pair, recall did not vary with causal relatedness. When subjects studied each pair for 30 s, recall again varied with causal relatedness. When recall was delayed, performance dropped more steeply in the comprehension and study conditions than in the elaboration condition. The results support a model in which elaborations are the critical factor influencing the shape of the recall function. Other models based on strength or quality of links or on reconstructive strategies are also discussed. © 1990.