Setting boundary conditions on the part-set cuing effect

Abstract

The effects of part-set cues were compared in free-recall and nonfree-recall retention tasks. During word presentation in Experiment 1, subjects read or completed fragments of list members. Output tasks were either fragment-completion or free-recall tests, both of which were cued or uncued. Although part-set cues inhibited recall, they did not influence fragment completion. Absence of negative cuing effects in fragment completion is contrary to research reported by Peynircioglu (1989) and suggests that cues are inhibitory when items are retrieved relationally but not when items are retrieved individually. Or, alternatively, cues may only be inhibitory when subjects consciously attempt retrieval. To test this idea, in Experiment 2, subjects were given indirect- or direct-memory associative tests, which were compared with free recall. In the indirect test, subjects were given stimulus words and were asked to provide a free associate for each; in the direct test, subjects were asked to recall an appropriate list member for each stimulus word. Part-set cues reduced recall but did not influence performance on either of the associative tasks. Overall, these results suggest that negative cuing is more likely to occur when items are retrieved relationally rather than individually.