RECOGNITION TIME - EFFECTS OF RECENCY FREQUENCY AND SPACING OF REPETITIONS

In a continuous memory task, 35 undergraduate Ss indentified words as old or new by pressing 1 of 2 buttons. Response latency was recorded. Conditions were such that accuracy was about 96%. Each experimental word occurred 3 times, denoted P1, P2, and P3. The number of items intervening between P1 and P2 was either 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 items; the number of items intervening between P2 and P3 was always 16 items. Findings were that (1) error latencies were longer than correct response times on all 3 presentations, (2) P2 recognition times increased with the length of the P1-P2 lag, (3) P3 times were considerably shorter than those on P2, and (4) P3 times decreased with the length of the P1-P2 lag, showing a spacing effect. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1969 American Psychological Association.