An experiment was performed to evaluate a new conception of the relationship between retention and forgetting. Ss were trained with the 2nd most frequent free-associative responses (R-sub(2)s) to Kent-Rosanoff stimuli, and were tested for written recall of the R-sub(2) words in the presence of the corresponding stimulus terms. Forgetting was fractionated into components of misrecall of which 2, intrusions of free-association primaries (R-sub(1)s) and intrusions of free-association responses from the associative hierarchy, were predominant. Correct recall of R-sub(2) words was tested under 2 different associative rules: (1) p(S → R-sub(2)), and (2) p(R-sub(1) → R-sub(2)). Misrecalls in each case were predicted by associative connections p(S → R-sub(1)) and p(R → R-sub(2)). The results support the hypothesis that retention and forgetting are 2 phenomena with multiple components subject to different associative rules. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)