The effects of cognitive transformation, size, quantity, and movement on free recall.

Abstract

Two experiments using one hundred and eighty-eight male and female college students studied the effects of cognitive transformation, size, quantity, and movement on free recall. In Experiment 1, (n=108) subjects were asked to imagine forty nouns in the form of pictures or words, one half of normal size, normal size, or two times normal size, and .either in a stationary or moving position. Significantly more items were recalled when they were normal sized and imagined in the form of pictures. An interaction between the form of cognitive transformation and movement was found to be statistically significant. In Experiment 2, (n=80) the subjects were asked to imagine the same forty nouns in the form of pictures or words, quantities of one or two, and in normal size or normal size expanding to two times normal size. In this experiment, none of the variables resulted in differences in free recall. The explanation offered for this lack of significance is that the combination of various mental activities produced a debilitating effect on free recall.