REMEMBERING WRITTEN INSTRUCTIONS: TAB A GOES INTO SLOT C, OR DOES IT?

Abstract

Summary. Three experiments were performed in an attempt to determine if students' memory for written directions could be facilitated. Experiment 1 contrasted a control condition with a condition in which students expected a free recall post‐test and a condition in which students expected to have to recall the directions in correct order. The results indicated that both experimental procedures resulted in significantly greater levels of overall recall than the control procedures. However, only the condition in which students expected a test of the order of information facilitated the recall of directions in order. Experiment 2 contrasted the learning of directions in a mnemonic (“one is a bun”) condition, a paraphrase condition, and a control condition in which subjects expected a test of their ability to recall information in correct order. The results indicated that in both the paraphrasing and the mnemonic conditions students had significantly more total recall than in the control condition. Further, the students in mnemonic condition recalled significantly more directions in correct order than those in the paraphrase or the control conditions. Students in the paraphrase condition, however, did recall significantly more directions in correct order than students in the control condition. Experiment 3 replicated Experiment 2 but had students actually perform the task from memory. The results confirmed those of Experiment 2. Overall, the results suggest that students' memory for directions can be enhanced through various encoding manipulations. The results seem directly applicable to educational settings.