Multitrial Free Recall Research Articles

Multitrial free recall for evaluating memory.

Much of our knowledge concerning the neural basis of human memory derives from lab-based verbal recall tasks. Outside of the lab, clinicians use validated and normed neuropsychological tests to assess patients' memory function and to evaluate clinical interventions. Here we sought to establish the clinical validity of examining memory through multitrial free recall of semantically organized and unrelated word lists. We compare memory performance in multitrial free recall tasks with the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test and the California Verbal Learning Test, two common neuropsychological tests aimed at evaluating memory function in clinical settings. We compare predictive validity between the tasks by evaluating deficits in a patient sample and examining age-related declines in memory. We additionally compare test-retest reliability, establish convergent validity, and show the emergence of common recall dynamics between the tasks. We demonstrate that both laboratory free recall tasks have better predictive validity and test-retest reliability than the established neuropsychological tests. We further show that all tasks have good convergent validity and reveal core memory processes, including temporal and semantic organization. However, we also demonstrate the benefits of repeated trials for evaluating the dynamics of memory search and their neuropsychological sequelae. These results provide evidence for the clinical validity of lab-based multitrial free recall tasks and highlight their psychometric benefits over neuropsychological measures. Based on these results, we discuss the need to bridge the gap between clinical understanding of putative mechanisms underlying memory disorders and neuroscientific findings obtained using lab-based free recall tasks. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Preoperative Visual Measures of Verbal Learning and Memory and their Relations to Speech Recognition After Cochlear Implantation.

This study examined the performance of a group of adult cochlear implant (CI) candidates (CIC) on visual tasks of verbal learning and memory. Preoperative verbal learning and memory abilities of the CIC group were compared with a group of older normal-hearing (ONH) control participants. Relations between preoperative verbal learning and memory measures and speech recognition outcomes after 6 mo of CI use were also investigated for a subgroup of the CICs. A group of 80 older adult participants completed a visually presented multitrial free recall task. Measures of word recall, repetition learning, and the use of self-generated organizational strategies were collected from a group of 49 CICs, before cochlear implantation, and a group of 31 ONH controls. Speech recognition outcomes were also collected from a subgroup of 32 of the CIC participants who returned for testing 6 mo after CI activation. CICs demonstrated poorer verbal learning performance compared with the group of ONH control participants. Among the preoperative verbal learning and memory measures, repetition learning slope and measures of self-generated organizational clustering strategies were the strongest predictors of post-CI speech recognition outcomes. Older adult CI candidates present with verbal learning and memory deficits compared with older adults without hearing loss, even on visual tasks that are independent from the direct effects of audibility. Preoperative verbal learning and memory processes reflecting repetition learning and self-generated organizational strategies in free recall were associated with speech recognition outcomes 6 months after implantation. The pattern of results suggests that visual measures of verbal learning may be a useful predictor of outcomes in postlingual adult CICs.

Multi-trial free recall dynamics in preschool children and young adults

ABSTRACT This study explored temporal-contextual memory search by examining recall dynamics in preschool children and young adults. Participants viewed a series of pictures and were asked to recall them in any order they remembered. Participants completed five study-test cycles for four separate lists. For two of the lists, the presentation order was fixed. For the other two, stimuli were presented in a different order every time. All participants tended to initiate recall with the last item of the list. Young adults most commonly transitioned from one item to a neighbouring item in a forward direction, especially for fixed lists, indicative of temporal-contextual search. Preschool children showed a small tendency to transition to neighbouring items but not always in the forward direction. This did not improve with practice. This suggests that the mechanisms that produce temporal-contextual memory search are not fully developed in preschool children, nor do they improve substantially with practice.

Verbal Learning and Memory in Early-Implanted, Prelingually Deaf Adolescent and Adult Cochlear Implant Users.

Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the information-processing strategies of early-implanted, prelingually deaf cochlear implant (CI) users with the California Verbal Learning Test-Second Edition (CVLT-II; Delis, Kramer, Kaplan, & Ober, 2000 ), a well-established normed measure of verbal learning and memory used in neuropsychological assessments of memory loss. Method Verbal learning and memory skills were compared in 20 older adolescent and young adult prelingually deaf long-term early-implanted CI users and their 24 normal hearing (NH) peers using the CVLT-II, a widely used multitrial free recall test of verbal learning and memory. Results On average, CI users recalled fewer words than their NH peers across the immediate, delayed, and cued recall trials of the CVLT-II but were comparable to their NH peers on yes/no recognition memory. CI users showed little evidence of semantic clustering of words during free recall but greater serial clustering compared to their NH peers, suggesting fundamental disturbances in automatic semantic activation of words from long-term memory. No differences were found in verbal memory between CI users and their NH peers on measures of retroactive interference and encoding/retrieval interactions. Performance on the 2nd word list of the CVLT-II (List B) and amount of semantic clustering of words during recall were correlated with sentence recognition in the CI group. Conclusion Study findings demonstrate significant differences in free recall performance and information-processing strategies that early-implanted, prelingually deaf CI users use to encode, organize, store, and retrieve spoken words in conventional verbal list learning paradigms, compared to their NH peers. Because verbal learning and memory are core foundational processes routinely used in daily functioning for a wide range of neurocognitive and language processing operations, these findings suggest potential domains for assessment and novel interventions to promote the development of optimal outcomes in prelingually deaf early-implanted long-term CI users.

Schooling, Local Knowledge and Working Memory: A Study among Three Contemporary Hunter-Gatherer Societies.

Researchers have analysed whether school and local knowledge complement or substitute each other, but have paid less attention to whether those two learning models use different cognitive strategies. In this study, we use data collected among three contemporary hunter-gatherer societies with relatively low levels of exposure to schooling yet with high levels of local ecological knowledge to test the association between i) schooling and ii) local ecological knowledge and verbal working memory. Participants include 94 people (24 Baka, 25 Punan, and 45 Tsimane’) from whom we collected information on 1) schooling and school related skills (i.e., literacy and numeracy), 2) local knowledge and skills related to hunting and medicinal plants, and 3) working memory. To assess working memory, we applied a multi-trial free recall using words relevant to each cultural setting. People with and without schooling have similar levels of accurate and inaccurate recall, although they differ in their strategies to organize recall: people with schooling have higher results for serial clustering, suggesting better learning with repetition, whereas people without schooling have higher results for semantic clustering, suggesting they organize recall around semantically meaningful categories. Individual levels of local ecological knowledge are not related to accurate recall or organization recall, arguably due to overall high levels of local ecological knowledge. While schooling seems to favour some organization strategies this might come at the expense of some other organization strategies.

Memory as a hologram: an analysis of learning and recall.

We present a holographic theory of human memory. According to the theory, a subject's vocabulary resides in a dynamic distributed representation-a hologram. Studying or recalling a word alters both the existing representation of that word in the hologram and all words associated with it. Recall is always prompted by a recall cue (either a start instruction or the word just recalled). Order of report is a joint function of the item and associative information residing in the hologram at the time the report is made. We apply the model to archival data involving simple free recall, learning in multitrial free recall, simple serial recall, and learning in multitrial serial recall. The model captures accuracy and order of report in both free and serial recall. It also captures learning and subjective organisation in multitrial free recall. We offer the model as an alternative to the short- and long-term account of memory postulated in the modal model.

Serial and subjective clustering on a verbal learning test (VLT) in children aged 5–15: The nature of subjective clustering

This study investigated which strategies children aged 5–15 years (N = 408) employ while performing a multitrial free recall test of semantically unrelated words. Serial clustering (i.e., a relatively passive strategy) is an index of the sequential consistency of recall order. Subjective clustering (i.e., a more active strategy) is based on similar word groupings in successive trials. Previously, Meijs et al. (2009) found that the level of (serial and subjective) clustering increases with age. At all ages, the level of serial clustering correlates positively with the ability to recall information on VLT trials. However, subjective clustering is more predictive of VLT performance than serial clustering after ≥ 3 trials, but only in children aged 8+. Knowledge on how children organize words (based on, for example, sound or meaning) and how this relates to developmental stage is still lacking. This study revealed that the level of subjective clustering is primarily determined by the position of words in a VLT list. More specifically, primacy (i.e., recall of words 1–3 of the VLT list — whether recalled in the same order or reversed) and recency (i.e., recall of words 14–15) effects primarily determine level subjective organization over successive trials. Thus, older children still organize words based on the serial position of the VLT list and are much less likely to organize them based on any other feature of the words, for example, sound or meaning. This indicates that the most important information to be learned needs to be presented first or last, even in older children and even with repeated presentations.

Exploring the enactment effect from an information processing view: What can we learn from serial position analyses?

The focus of the present article was to analyze processes that determine the enactment and age effect in a multi-trial free recall paradigm by looking at the serial position effects. In an experimental study (see Schatz et al 2010), the performance-enhancing effect of enactive encoding and repeated learning was tested with older and younger participants. As expected, there was a steady improvement of memory performance as a function of repeated learning regardless of age. In addition, enactive encoding led to a better memory performance than verbal encoding in both age groups. Furthermore, younger adults outperformed the elderly regardless of type of encoding. Analyses in the present article show that encoding by enacting seems to profit especially from remembering the last items of a presented list. Regarding age differences, younger outperformed older participants in nearly all item positions. The performance enhancement after task repetition is due to a higher amount of recalled items in the middle positions in a subject performed task (SPT) and a verbal task (VT) as well as the last positions of a learned list in VT.

Serial position curves in free recall.

The scenario for free recall set out in Laming (2009) is developed to provide models for the serial position curves from 5 selected sets of data, for final free recall, and for multitrial free recall. The 5 sets of data reflect the effects of rate of presentation, length of list, delay of recall, and suppression of rehearsal. Each model accommodates the serial position curve for first recalls (where those data are available) as well as that for total recalls. Both curves are fit with the same parameter values, as also (with 1 exception) are all of the conditions compared within each experiment. The distributions of numbers of recalls are also examined and shown to have variances increased above what would be expected if successive recalls were independent. This is taken to signify that, in those experiments in which rehearsals were not recorded, the retrieval of words for possible recall follows the same pattern that is observed following overt rehearsal, namely, that retrieval consists of runs of consecutive elements from memory. Finally, 2 sets of data are examined that the present approach cannot accommodate. It is argued that the problem with these data derives from an interaction between the patterns of (covert) rehearsal and the parameters of list presentation.

Repeated retrieval during learning is the key to long-term retention

Tests not only measure the contents of memory, they can also enhance learning and long-term retention. We report two experiments inspired by Tulving’s (1967) pioneering work on the effects of testing on multitrial free recall. Subjects learned lists of words across multiple study and test trials and took a final recall test 1 week after learning. In Experiment 1, repeated testing during learning enhanced retention relative to repeated studying, although alternating study and test trials produced the best retention. In Experiment 2, recalled items were dropped from further studying or further testing to investigate how different types of practice affect retention. Repeated study of previously recalled items did not benefit retention relative to dropping those items from further study. However, repeated recall of previously recalled items enhanced retention by more than 100% relative to dropping those items from further testing. Repeated retrieval of information is the key to long-term retention.

A comparative analysis of serial and free recall

Multitrial free and serial recall tasks differ both in recall instruction and in presentation order across trials. Waugh (1961) compared these paradigms with an intermediate condition: free recall with constant presentation order. She concluded that differences between free and serial recall were due only to recall instructions, and not to presentation order. The present study reevaluated the relation between free and serial recall, using Waugh's three conditions. By examining recall transitions and the organization of information retained across trials, we conclude that presentation order is an important factor, causing participants to exhibit the same temporal associations in serial recall and in free recall with constant presentation order.

Evidence for two processes underlying the serial position curve of single- and multi-trial free recall in a heterogeneous group of psychiatric patients: A confirmatory factor analytic study

The U-shaped serial position curve (SPC) of single-trial free recall is a well-established empirical fact, and there is ample evidence that it is the result of two different memory functions. However, it is insufficiently clear whether the same holds true for the SPC of multi-trial free recall. Free recall test measurements of two large heterogeneous groups of psychiatric patients were subjected to factor extraction using Principal Components Analysis and oblique rotation in two studies. The results of these two experiments show that the SPCs of single- and multi-trial free recall arise from the same two functions i.e. one function underlies the recency part, the other the primacy and middle (prerecency) part. Possible theoretical interpretations are discussed.

A decomposition of age-related differences in multitrial free recall

Abstract The relative roles of acquisition and forgetting in mediating age-related differences in multitrial learning were evaluated by having 258 adults (18 to 94 years of age) complete five study and free-recall test trials of 15 words. Performance across trials was decomposed into (a) gained access, corresponding to the proportion of items recalled on trial n+1 of those that were not recalled on trial n (hence tapping processes related to acquisition), and (b) lost access, corresponding to the proportion of items not recalled on trial n+1 of those that were recalled on trial n (hence tapping intertrial forgetting). Age-related differences occurred both in gained access and in lost access, although acquisition seemed to play a larger role in mediating age-related differences in learning than did forgetting. Also, a composite measure of processing speed shared 63% or more of the age-related variance in measures of free recall. the overall pattern of results is consistent with the view that age-related de...

Repeated testing: A technique for assessing the roles of elaborative and organizational processing in the representation of social knowledge.

A new technique for evaluating the roles of elaborative and organizational processing in the representation of social information is described. Although these concepts have found increasing application in theories of social knowledge, most investigations of elaboration and organization have relied on measures that can lead to interpretive ambiguities. Two studies show how analysis of the item-gain and item-loss components of multitrial free recall provides a means for assessing the contributions of elaborative and organizational processing while avoiding many of the problems found with existing measures

Age differences in free recall and clustering as a function of list length and trials

To further investigate the relationship between age and multitrial free recall of categorized lists, 144 subjects learned a categorized word list for five trials. The basic design was a 2 × 3 factorial combination of list length (32 or 64 words) and age (young, middle-aged, and elderly). Both list lengths were composed of eight categories, with either four or eight instances per category. Lists were presented for five alternate study-test trials, and after a 20-min filler task a final recall trial was administered. Overall, young subjects recalled more words than did either middle-aged or elderly subjects, but the two older groups did not differ. Follow-up analyses of the significant age × list length interaction indicated that there were significant age differences only on the long list. While there were systematic age-related differences in recall, there were no parallel differences in clustering, indicating that although elderly subjects do use category-organization strategies during encoding, they do not benefit as much from those strategies as do younger subjects.

Ability differences and prose learning

Two experiments examined the relationship between spatial, imagery, and verbal ability and the multitrial free recall of brief prose passages. The prose passages, varying in concreteness, were presented at a slow or fast rate of presentation. Correlational and multiple-regression analyses in Experiment 1 revealed that spatial-imagery ability significantly predicted prose recall, particularly when concrete prose was presented quickly. In Experiment 2, where a mixed factorial design was used, different interaction patterns involving spatial-imagery and verbal ability emerged. In both experiments, intrusion errors were predicted by spatial-imagery but not verbal ability. The results are interpreted in the context of different psychological mechanisms underlying individual differences in spatial and verbal ability.

Memory Organization and Repetition: Function of Organization in Multi-Trial Free Recall

Memory Organization and Repetition: Function of Organization in Multi-Trial Free Recall

Learning and retrieval rate of words presented auditorily and visually.

Mode of presentation (visual or auditory) of a multitrial free recall test is stressed as an important factor in improving the diagnosis of certain neurological patients. For further use in neuropsychological research, an experiment was carried out using normal subjects, in which the effects of presentation mode and order of modality were investigated. There were no differential effects of these variables on several parameters, such as the number of words recalled and the learning curve. The time needed for the responses in immediate recall was the same in both auditory and visual conditions. In delayed recall, however, the interresponse times were significantly shorter when words had been presented auditorily than when presented visually. The results are discussed in light of further application in the field of neuropsychology.

Age, Organization, and Memory: Effects of Presentation Rate and Rehearsal Strategy

The relationship between free recall and organization was investigated using a 2(age) × 2(presentation rate) × 2(rehearsal strategy) analysis-of-variance design. A multitrial free-recall task was used with a 16-item list of unrelated words. Young and old adults practiced these materials overtly using either spontaneous (natural) rehearsal or a strategy increasing active rehearsal. Both increased rehearsal activity and increased study time were expected to improve senior adults' memory functioning. Analyses of rehearsal and recall measures indicated that elderly individuals had a general decrement in verbal memory. The role played by organizational strategies appears important only for young adults. For the elderly, both independent variables led to more enriched rehearsal activity and slightly greater subjective organization. No improvement in recall emerged, and large differences associated with age persisted. These findings suggest that organizational deficits do not account for differences in memory as a function of age.

Output organization in the free recall of mildly retarded children

Output organization in multitrial free recall of ‘unrelated’ lists can be quantified using measures of intertrial consistency or subjective clustering, the latter being based on subjective ‘categories’ revealed in a post-recall sort task. It has previously been shown with picture stimuli (Todman 1982) that recall and subjective clustering, but not intertrial consistency, increase with age for nonretarded children. In the present study, mildly mentally retarded children at three age levels were given the same task. Although recall increased with age, there was no age effect on subjective clustering or intertrial consistency. Output organization of the retarded groups was compared with that of nonretarded groups at three age levels. The nonretarded groups comprised previously tested children selected to equate each group with one of the three retarded groups on mean recall. Across all age levels, intertrial consistency was significantly ( p < 0.02) higher for retarded groups.