Research article summary (published 30 Oct 1990):

The generation effect: a test between single- and multifactor theories.

Full Abstract

Single- and multifactor accounts of the generation effect (better memory for internally generated items than for externally presented items) were tested. Single-factor theories suggest that generation induces either stimulus-response relational processing or response-oriented processing. Multifactor theories suggest that generation induces both types of processing. In the first three experiments subjects either read or generated responses, and the degree of categorical structure within the list was manipulated. When categorical structure was minimal, large generation effects were observed for free recall and recognition, but not for cued recall. When categorical structure was high, however, a generation effect was observed for cued recall but not for recognition or free recall. A fourth experiment was performed to eliminate an uninteresting interpretation of the results. It is argued that a multifactor account is needed to explain these findings.

Author information

Author/s: Burns, D J (DJ);

Affiliation: Department of Psychology, Lafayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania 18042.

Grants: MH43981-01 (Agency:NIMH NIH HHS)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

Journal: Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition (J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn), published in UNITED STATES. (Language: eng)

Reference: 1990-Nov; vol 16 (issue 6) : pp 1060-7

Dates: Created 1991/02/19; Completed 1991/02/19; Revised 2007/11/14;

PMID: 2148579, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Attention Humans Mental Recall Paired-Associate Learning

Reading Retention (Psychology) Semantics Verbal Behavior

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