The role of order information in free recall: Application to the word-frequency effect

According to an order-encoding account of free recall, the free recall of unrelated words is organized according to their order of presentation in the study list, with unusual items attracting more attentional resources to item encoding than usual items, but at the expense of order encoding. This account correctly predicted (a) better free recall and serial-order memory for high-frequency (HF) than low-frequency (LF) words in pure lists and (b) equivalent serial-order memory for HF and LF words but superior recall of LF words in mixed lists. The mixed-list recall results and the finding that overall list recall did not depend on the proportion of HF words comprising a list are inconsistent with G. Gillund and R.M. Shiffrin's (1984) search of associative memory (SAM) explanation. The order-encoding account of the differential effects of other variables (e.g., generation and bizarreness) on free recall in pure versus mixed lists is also discussed.