Cuing effects in short-term recall

Abstract

Past research indicates that short-term memory can be immune to the effects of proactive interference (PI). Past research also indicates that immunity to PI is found only in those circumstances where phonemic representations of to-be-remembered items are present and provide discriminative information. The first three experiments demonstrate the existence of a further boundary condition. PI is observed only if interfering and target items are subsumed by the same cue. This finding suggests that short-term recall, like long-term recall, is cue dependent. Cuing effects are further explored in two experiments that manipulate category dominance. The finding that category dominance effects parallel PI effects strongly suggests that retrieval cues play a critical role in short-term recall.