The effect of testing on the forgetting of related and unrelated associates.

Abstract

Separate groups of subjects studied lists of word pairs in which the members of the pairs were either unrelated or strong or weak associates. A single study trial was given. In addition, one group received three study presentations on the unrelated list. An immediate cued recall test for half of the pairs was followed by a second test on all pairs either 10 min, 48 hr, or 1 week later. The associated pairs, both strong and weak, were forgotten less rapidly than the nonassociated pairs, but the effect was largely restricted to previously tested items. The results do not appear to be due to differences in the amount of interference present, but point to the importance of retrieval operations in the attenuation of forgetting.