SCANNING ORGANIZED MATERIAL - INDIVIDUAL-DIFFERENCES IN SEARCH STRATEGIES

A recognition memory experiment investigated memory scanning of material with varying degrees of organization. Subjects were shown a series of three, four, or five digits (positive set) followed by a probe stimulus in a paradigm developed by Sternberg (1966). The results indicated that, for unorganized positive sets, all subjects performed a serial search, with reaction time increasing across set size. For highly organized sets, some subjects continued to perform a serial search, while others engaged in a unit search, evidenced by the fact that reaction time was not related to set size. These two groups also differed in their overall response latencies, and a signal detection theory analysis indicated that subjects choosing a serial strategy were more cautious (i.e., more concerned with accuracy) than subjects choosing a unit strategy. © 1979, The Psychonomic Society, Inc.. All rights reserved.