Factors Affecting Item Recovery and Hypermnesia in Free Recall

Abstract

Three experiments on factors affecting item recovery in repeated free-recall tests are reported. In Experiment 1 the pictorial quality of the material was varied. There was more item recovery with pictures (line drawings and photographs) than there was with words. Although picture quality had a large effect on recall levels, it did not affect recovery rate. Experiment 2 was an attempt to influence recall of new items on a second test by varying the strengthening effect of the first test on recalled items: subjects were given either a standard written recall test that allowed review of recalled items or a test in which recalled