SHORT-TERM STORAGE AND LONG-TERM STORAGE IN FREE RACALL

Two experiments on free recall were conducted in order to examine the hypothesis of two storage mechanisms in memory and the hypothesis of a single interference mechanism. The main finding in Experiment I was that, in accord with the two-storage model, presentation rate, stimulus material (words vs. trigrams), and frequency affected recall from long-term storage (LTS) but not from short-term storage (STS) while delay affected recall from STS but not LTS. In Experiment II, the shape of the serial position effect over successive lists was examined. Little evidence of any systematic proactive inhibition effect could be found. The results are considered favorable to a two-storage model. © 1969 Academic Press, Inc. All rights resered.