Effects of instructions for category organization on long-term retention.

Abstract

The effect of different organizational instructions in free-recall learning on 5-7 day retention was studied in two experiments. In each study all subjects learned an identical list of words, with instructions and input blocking suggesting use of either subjective organization or else categorization, according to sensory-dominance categories; categorization was either linear or hierarchical. In both experiments, instructions to use categories led to superior retention. Differences in number of categories used by the subjects were considered as the primary explanation of the findings.

Facilitation of free recall by categorical blocking depends on stimulus type

“…The effect on free recall of prior knoweldge of the stimulus categories was also tested, since the provision of information about the categories of to-be-remembered items has been shown to aid memory in a variety of experimental contexts (e.g., Buschke & Lazar, 1973;Hultsch, 1969;Strand, 1975).…”

Pavlovian backward conditioned inhibition in humans: Summation and retardation tests

“…Our intention was to provide a clear demonstration of Pavlovian backward inhibition in a human contingency learning task, not to test the role of instructions in this effect. In the categorization literature, instructions have been observed to facilitate the use of categories and retention of information (Strand, 1975). As applied to the present example, informing the subject about the outcome might facilitate subjects' categorizing trials as reinforced or nonreinforced and using a rule-based strategy to rate cues at test.…”