How much does guessing influence recall? Comment on Erdelyi, Finks, and Feigin-Pfau.

Abstract

Erdelyi, Finks, and Feigin-Pfau (1989) present evidence that variations in recall criteria can affect the number of items correctly recalled. In this comment, we (a) describe some procedural differences between their work and the earlier experiments of Roediger and Payne (1985), (b) note that their large manipulations of recall criteria produced only small effects on the amount recalled, and (c) describe recent research complementing that of Erdelyi et al. We observe that variations in recall criteria have larger effects after a 1-week delay than on an immediate test.