Memory for words recently classified

Abstract

This paper describes research whose goal is to determine the implications of verba] classificatory, judgments for recognition memory and recall. Toward this end, St were required to answer 100 queries of attribution and superordination ds a TWINGE sudden? Is SPINACH ecstatic? Is a CORKSCREW an opener? Is a DUNGEON a scholar? before being tested unexpectedly on their ability to remember either the uppercase "keywords" or the lowercase "descriptors." Lexical memory did not depend on whether a word had been part of an attributive or a superordinate query. But words from "incongruous" queries almost invariably were more poorly remembered-under conditions of free recall, cued recall, and recognition memory-than words from "congruous" queries. Congruous cues, but not incongruous ones, greatly facilitated recall, with keywords being more effective cues than descriptors. Recognition memory of keywords was uniformly superior to that of descriptors. It is argued that the large and pervasive memorial advantages of congruity arise because a congruous query, unlike an incongruous one, fosters a relational encoding of keyword and descriptor.