Edward A. Bilodeau

Stimulated verbal recall and analysis of sources of recall

Summary Two groups of 100 S s each were trained with lists of five items consisting of the second most frequent responses (R 2 ) to Kent-Rosanoff stimulus words, and were tested 2 min. later for recall in the presence (Reminded) or absence (Not Reminded) of the stimuli corresponding to the R 2 words. The 1000 pieces of data were assigned to one of seven classes of recall. Stimulated recall produced major differences in the amount and source of errors. The Russell-Jenkins cultural norms were analyzed to separate the stimulus words into three categories. The categories varied the probability of producing R 1 responses (cultural primary), R 2 (cultural secondary), and R 3−n (sum of cultral responses 3 to n). Correct and incorrect recalls varied directly with the cultural probabilities in the norms. It was concluded that the present technique reveals the powerful effects of extraexperimental, proacting interference and facilitation. It was also concluded that the methodologies of memory and association testing can be gainfully blended.

Courses of Misrecall over Long-Term Retention Intervals as Related to Strength of Pre-Experimental Habits of Word Association

Following a proaction paradigm, 670 Ss were trained with two lists containing five of the secondary associates (R2) to Russell-Jenkins stimulus words, and were tested 2 min., 20 mm., 2 days, or 28 days later for retention of the second list. During recall, half of the Ss were administered the five stimulus words corresponding to the five R2 words of the second list (stimulated condition), and half did not receive the stimulus words (not-stimulated condition). The stimulus words were divisible into three categories, in effect varying the cultural associative probabilities at each retention interval. Altogether, there were 24 groups completing a 4 × 2 × 3 factorial design. The retention of R2s decreased with time and the effect of stimulation was to raise their level of production above groups not so stimulated. As R2s decreased with time, intrusions of R1s (primaries) and Ra-nS (sum of Ra to R n ) became more numerous where the cultural probabilities suggested this ought to happen. After 28 days, Ss still showed strong evidence of the training exposure but performance was more like that of free-associating Ss than that of shorter retention groups. In the not-stimulated condition, intrusions from unidentified sources (classified as Remainder) were more numerous the longer the retention interval. Collectively, these data support the conclusion that the amount of proactive interference via specific pre-experimental word-word habits increases as a function of time. An item analysis suggested a monotonic pattern of rs for forgetting under stimulated conditions, but not under conditions of free recall. This was interpreted to mean that forgetting when stimulated was more a process of complication than simplification and resembles a process sometimes found in motor-skills retention. Other correlational analyses proved useful tools for describing forgetting; questions pertaining to the behavior of items were quite as intriguing as those about Ss. Also, more variance could be accounted for after long than short retention intervals.

Short-term retention of a simple motor task as a function of interpolated activity

During Pretraining, S was guided to two targets on a lever positioning device; during Training, S made an unguided move to the first target. After a 28-sec. retention period, S was tested by asking him to repeat his last move. Two disengagement variables were applied in a factorial combination during the retention interval. One required S to retrieve a pencil from the floor, the other required S to return the lever to zero. It was concluded that the zeroing response did not interfere with retention and that the retrieving response did.

Long-term retention under conditions of artificially induced recall of related events.

This is the second of a series of four major studies which examine the interrelationships between two training factors (the first response and informative feedback) and three memory factors (the second response, the recalled feedback, and the response alternative). Only two trials were given, 28 days apart. 671 Ss were reminded of two of the three antecedents in order to evaluate the effect of near perfect recall of two antecedents on memory for the third. The results confirm the hypothesis that reminders are effective in altering memory in a variety of ways. The method of reminders is analysed in detail and so is its relation to similar techniques recently evolved in the field of verbal learning and retention.

STIMULATED RECALL OF IDIOSYNCRATIC AND CULTURAL FREE ASSOCIATES

The recalls from idiosyncratic (I) and cultural (C) sources of free associates are compared under stimulated recall in order to determine if I and C are interchangeable. Primaries interfered with recall of secondaries when S retrieved from C, but when the source was I, considerable facilitation of secondaries resulted.

PREDICTION OF COMPLEX TASK PROFICIENCY BY MEANS OF COMPONENT RESPONSES

The present study evolved from previous work on the relationship between a complex motor skill and its components (1957a). The objective was the fractionation of total-task behavior into individual part skills and the examination of relations between the parts and the total. The analysis leads to the synthesis of the complex skill. That is, a combinational rule is produced where the criterion score for the total task is reconstructed by means of the scores on the parts. Previous successful combinational rules were based upon models of independent probabilities (Bilodeau & Bilodeau, 1954; Bilodeau, 1955) and of multivariate regression . (Bilodeau, 1957b). A third approach (Bilodeau, 1957a), and also the one used here, make use of geometric relationships between the total and part tasks. There are two general types of training situations for which the synthesis can be made. In one, S practices the parts separately and is later tested with the parts simultaneously. In the other practice mode, training is confined to the total task. In the present experiment the training alternated between part and total tasks. Ss task was to crank using two hands (total task) or one hand (part-task R and part-task L). The purpose was to show that the scores taken when the hands worked separately could be used to predict the scores when the hands worked together within a 5% margin of error. The practice of the part and whole tasks continued over a period of 20 days in order to ensure the development of more than an ordinary amount of coordination. It will be shown that (a) the problem of synthesizing whole-task performance is much simpler for skilled Ss than for the unskilled, and that (b) the terms of the combinational rule are suggestive of the nature of the developing coordination. METHOD Subjects.--On the basis of a brief foretest, three male graduate srudents were selected from five volunteers. The three Ss were chosen so as to maximize between-subject variance. Ss were paid

The NRC booklet: A group technique for studying word arousal phenomena as a function of Ss

1.00 per hour plus a bonus for best and second best performance. Apparatus.-The appararus was Model CMlOlB of the Standard Two-Hand Coordination Test, modified as previously described (1957a) to change the cask from simple pursuit to tracing. Turning the crank for the right hand clockwise (C) or

Free association, free recall, and stimulated recall compared

A booklet has been designed which can be used with large, intact classes of Ss yet it permits the programming of idiosyncratic training material in experiments on learning and retention.

The effect of list difficulty on item difficulty using the method of stimulated recall

Three primary methods of recall (free association, free recall, stimulated recall) and two modifications of them (modified free association, modified stimulated recall) were defined by use of three variables: (a) presence or absence of prior laboratory training, (b) presence or absence of E controlled test stimulation, and (c) test instructions to free associate or to recall Data obtained from approximately 300 Ss and an earlier set of 600 revealed the differential effectiveness of all three primary methods in recall and misrecall.

INADEQUATE RESOURCES, EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN, AND REVIEW OF THE INFORMATIVE FEEDBACK LITERATURE.

Ten words found difficult to recall in previous studies when they appeared in mixed lists (easy and difficult words together) and five words easy to recall in the same situation were redistributed within lists which contained either all difficult words, all easy words, or mixtures of easy and difficult words. Two minutes after study, Stimulated Recall was requested. No difference in recall of an item was attributable to list mixture. The results suggest ease or difficulty of item recall was solely a function of the stimulus in recall.