Joel S. Freund

Activity duration and adult age differences in memory for activity performance.

Young and elderly subjects performed a series of activities that varied in the duration of their performances (45 s, 90 s, and 180 s). Duration was found to have a negligible effect on the subsequent recall of the activities and on the magnitude of the age deficit in recall. Operationalization of the program for performing an activity seems essential for establishing a memory trace of that activitys performance, but the duration of performing that activity seems to yield no further enhancement of that trace.

Age differences in free recall and subjective organization.

Previous studies concerned with subjective organization occurring during free-recall learning have not provided consistent evidence for a hypothesis of organizational deficiency in the elderly. To assess the role of recall conditions in this discrepancy, the free-recall learning of younger and older adults was examined under conditions where the recalled words were either visible or not visible. Also, 5 measures of subjective organization, including measures used in earlier studies, were used to assess the role of measurement factors in producing the inconsistent findings. Younger adults, regardless of recall condition, recalled more words and showed more subjective organization than did the older adults with each of the measures. List length, rather than type of recall trial or measure of subjective organization, seems to be responsible for the conflicting findings obtained by other investigators.

Persistence of the spacing effect in incidental free recall: The effect of external list comparisons and intertask correlations

The attenuation-of-attention explanation of the spacing effect was tested, using an incidental learning paradigm. The incidental task was one in which subjects rated each item on either one or two scales. When two scales were used, all repeated items (massed and distributed) were rated on both scales. In Experiment 1, each point on the rating scale was labeled with an exemplar, and subjects were asked to compare each list item with the given exemplars. In Experiment 2, the correlation between the two scales was systematically varied. Neither manipulation reduced the magnitude of the spacing effect.

Adult age differences in free recall and category clustering

This experiment used free recall and category clustering methodologies to determine whether older adults, relative to younger adults, are less adept at organizing the to-be-learned material. To assess the role of categorical versus associative relationships upon organization, items that were clear exemplars of their respective categories and had one of two levels of interim associative strength were used. Analyses of the recall data indicated that younger adults recalled more categories, more instances per category, and more total words than did the older adults. Analyses of organizational measures, including both molar and molecular measures of category clustering (a type of secondary organization), and seriation (a type of primary organization), provided evidence for age differences in multiple and divergent modes of organization. Subjects, particularly the younger adults, initially evidenced a seriation strategy and then used one based on category membership.

Single-Letter Retrieval Cues for Anagram Solution

Abstract Anagram solution, as related to single-letter retrieval cues and first letter of the solution word (consonant or vowel), was examined. In Experiment 1, college-aged solvers were presented both types of 5-letter words and either the first letter of the solution word as a cue, or no cue. In Experiment 2, the effects of four types of retrieval cues (first, middle, or last letter or no cue) upon solving consonant-beginning words was examined. Finally, Experiment 3 examined the solution of both types of solution words as related to the preceding four types of retrieval cues. The results of all 3 experiments showed that a single letter can be an effective cue. For consonant-beginning words, the middle and last letters were as effective as the first letter. For vowel-beginning words, the first letter was more effective than either the middle or last letter. It was concluded that solvers select one letter of the anagram, typically a consonant, to serve as the first letter of the solution word, and then rearrange the remaining letters.

Anagram solution as related to adult age, anagram difficulty, and experience in solving crossword puzzles

Abstract Anagram solution, as related to anagram difficulty, adult age, and frequency of solving crossword puzzles, was examined. Anagrams of three difficulty levels, defined in terms of normative solution times, were initially used in Experiment 1. Subsequently, the data were reanalyzed using two levels of difficulty, defined in terms of solution word frequency. Two levels of anagram difficulty, defined by whether the anagram was presented in the form of a word or nonword, were used in Experiment 2. Anagram solution was negatively related to anagram difficulty and positively related to frequency of solving crossword puzzles. With the exception of the second set of analyses from Experiment 1, no support was found for the complexity hypothesis, that is, the hypothesis that age differences in anagram solution would increase with anagram difficulty. the pattern of results was consistent with the lifestyle hypothesis, that is, the hypothesis that age differences in anagram solution would be greater for infreq...

Age differences in free recall and clustering as a function of list length and trials

To further investigate the relationship between age and multitrial free recall of categorized lists, 144 subjects learned a categorized word list for five trials. The basic design was a 2 × 3 factorial combination of list length (32 or 64 words) and age (young, middle-aged, and elderly). Both list lengths were composed of eight categories, with either four or eight instances per category. Lists were presented for five alternate study-test trials, and after a 20-min filler task a final recall trial was administered. Overall, young subjects recalled more words than did either middle-aged or elderly subjects, but the two older groups did not differ. Follow-up analyses of the significant age × list length interaction indicated that there were significant age differences only on the long list. While there were systematic age-related differences in recall, there were no parallel differences in clustering, indicating that although elderly subjects do use category-organization strategies during encoding, they do not benefit as much from those strategies as do younger subjects.

Case-Mixing Effects on Anagram Solution

Abstract The effects of mixed-case letters on anagram solution were investigated in 2 studies with college-aged participants. In Experiment 1, the participants attempted to solve anagrams printed in either mixed- or same-case letters. The results showed that mixed-case letters disrupted the solution process. To determine if this effect was a result of the inappropriate grouping of letters of the same case, the authors conducted Experiment 2 as a partial replication of Experiment 1. In Experiment 2, in some cases, uppercase letters in the mixed-case condition formed a word that was of a higher frequency than was the solution word. Once again mixed-case letters disrupted the solution process. However, the authors found no evidence for the hypothesis on the inappropriate grouping of letters as the disruption was independent of having an embedded word in the anagram.

Encoding variability with imagery instructions in paired—associate transfer

Martin’s (1968) encoding-variability hypothesis was tested. Subjects learned two paired-associate lists conforming either to an A-B, A-D or to an A-B, C-D paradigm. Prior to learning the second list, one half of the subjects in each condition were instructed to use imagery to learn the list, while the other half received neutral instructions. If the instructions induce the subjects to variably encode the stimuli (i.e., to switch from a verbal to an imaginal code), then the A-D paradigm in effect becomes a C-D paradigm, and associative interference should be reduced. Results of two experiments failed to confirm the predictions. In addition, imagery instructions did not lead to improved second-list learning, even in the C-D condition, suggesting that it may be difficult to produce changes in learning strategies.

Effects of subject-generated stories on recall

Two free recall experiments that used modified narrative chaining instructions are reported. The first experiment compared instructions to create a story with standard free recall instructions. Subjects were given 5 min to study a 30-item list of words for later recall. One group was told to create a story with the words; the other group was simply told to study them. Mean recall did not differ as a function of instructions. In the second experiment, study time was manipulated in an attempt to eliminate the possibility that subjects in all conditions were creating stories. Again recall of the subjects given story instructions did not differ from those given standard free recall instructions. The results of the experiments are discussed in terms of methodological differences between these experiments and those of other investigators.