Short-term memory, word class, and sequence of items.

Abstract

120 SS RECEIVED 24 WORD TRIADS IN A SHORT-TERM MEMORY TEST. WHEN MASSED, RETENTION WAS MAXIMUM FOR THE 1ST ITEM OF A CATEGORY, SIGNIFICANTLY POORER IN MOST CASES FOR THE 2ND AND 3RD; WHEN DISTRIBUTED, NO LOSS OCCURRED FOR RETENTION OF WORDS, A SLIGHT LOSS FOR INTRAITEM POSITION. HETEROGENEOUS ITEMS SHOWED MAXIMUM PROACTIVE INTERFERENCE AFTER 1 TRIAL. WORD FREQUENCY DID NOT INTERACT WITH THE OTHER VARIABLES. THE INTERPRETATION IS THAT PROACTIVE INTERFERENCE DOES NOT DEVELOP ACROSS TAXONOMIC CLASSES AND THAT WITHIN CLASSES IT DISSIPATES IF ITEMS ARE SUFFICIENTLY SPACED.

Effects of encoding strategy, presentation modality, and scoring method on STM performance with the Peterson and Peterson technique

“…Thus, the results cannot, be explained in terms of an "end spurt." It may be added that when running the Wickens-type experiment for 10-15 trials, a regular finding seems to be the initial drop in performance and the gradual increase in performance again after about 4-6 trials (Loess, 1964(Loess, , 1967Turvey & Wittlinger, Experiment 1,1969;and Wickens, Fig. 2, 1970).…”

The dissipation and release of proactive interference in a short-term memory task

“…The experimental groups received only a rest interval. Since a taxonornic shift produces a marked release from PI (Loess, 1967), it was feit that the control groups would provide an index of the maximum amount of PI dissipation that might be expected in the experimental groups.…”

Connotative classification and proactive interference in short-term memory

“…Third, the present experiment was conducted to examine the effect of changing connotative class on each test of the STM test series. Although Loess (1967) observed that changing taxonomic class on each test of a STM test series prohibited the build-up of PI, Turvey (1968) failed to find a similar effect with successive changes of connotative class. This latter observation, if valid, suggests an important difference between taxonomic and connotative classification in STM.…”