RECALL FOR ORDER AND CONTENT OF SERIAL WORD LITS IN SHORT-TERM MEMORY

Studied the role of serial order in recall with the use of an order cue to test for recall of words at each of 5 serial positions. Word strings received 1, 2, or 3 presentations, and recall was tested after 4, 8, or 16 sec. Ss were 45 undergraduates. Analyses of errors revealed that order errors could be separated from errors of content primarily because the former showed a serial position effect, while the latter did not. Order is an aspect of a stimulus series that may serve as a means of organizing content in memory. (18 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1969 American Psychological Association.