SERIATION - DEVELOPMENT OF SERIAL ORDER IN FREE RECALL

80 undergraduates were required to recall lists of words presented in an incremental manner, i.e., by adding new items to a list on each trial. Word order was either constant, serial, or random, and new words were added at different loci of the list. Incremented lists produced just as adequate recall as traditional lists. Serial lists were acquired more efficiently than random lists. Ss adopted in their output the serial order of input whenever possible. In the absence of constant input order, Ss provided their own constant structure for their output. Seriation appears to be the preferred method of organizing lists and is maintained up to a list length of 50 words. (15 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1969 American Psychological Association.