Thinking of a word under instructional constraints

Abstract

Instructions to think of an uncommon word to complete a verbal problem (e.g., f___k) could either prompt the recall of only uncommon words or leave the common-to-uncommon order of recall intact and establish the criteria for rejecting recalled common words. Postsolution recognition tests consisted of all possible solution words and indicated that common and uncommon word instructions elicited the most common of the possible solution words first. A second, less common, word was recalled only if the first word was too common to meet the uncommon word criteria. Word frequency instructions affect the evaluation, and not the recall, stage of solving verbal problems.