Factorially combined interval of stimulus availability (1, 2, or 4 sec.), number of exposures (1, 2, or 4), and retention interval (3, 9, or 27 sec.) in a short-term memory study where verbal items were consonant trigrams. 24 female undergraduates counted backward during the 6-sec inter-exposure interval as well as during the retention interval. Results show that as the number of exposures increased, the retention curve became flatter. The interexposure interval allowed forgetting to occur, but in addition appeared to facilitate retrieval. Hence, the role of the interexposure interval may have to be considered in the definition of a training trial in verbal learning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)