Set, structure, and the recall of words.

Presented 40 adjective-noun pairs at the rate of 5 sec/pair to a total of 396 undergraduates in 2 experiments. In both experiments, groups of Ss were given, prior to the initial presentation, (a) either a set to remember the pairs or the nouns; (b) adjectives which were either repeated or varied from the 1st to the 2nd 20 pairs; and (c) pairs which either belonged or did not belong together (e.g., "brave army" vs. "sweet army"). When Ss were given the adjectives and asked to recall the correct nouns, results show that set for pairs, the repeat condition, and the belonging condition provided reliably higher recall scores. Also, the Set * Repeat * Belonging interaction was significant. When Ss were given a blank piece of paper and asked to recall only nouns, only the set for nouns produced higher recall scores. Results support the emphasis-congruence hypothesis in recall, i.e., when the material emphasized in learning is congruent with what is needed in recall, then there is better recall. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)