Keyword mnemonic and retention of second-language vocabulary words.

Use of the keyword mnemonic has been shown to substantially increase learning speed and immediate recall of 2nd-language vocabulary words in comparison with other learning strategies. Although the majority of researchers examining long-term retention of material acquired through the keyword method have concluded that these gains are maintained over time, most have relied on experimental designs based on within-S comparisons. However, within-S comparisons of retention over time are confounded by both rates of initial acquisition and level of immediate recall. In this article, data are presented from 4 experiments in which the retention interval (immediate vs delay) was treated as a between-Ss factor. The findings consistently indicated that long-term forgetting was greater for learners instructed to use the keyword mnemonic than for learners engaged in rote rehearsal. It is suggested that preexperimental associations to keywords interfere with retrieval of the interactive images established in the laboratory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)