Abstract
In directed forgetting, the item method presents instructions to remember or to forget individual items; the list method presents a single mid-list instruction to forget the first half of the list. Initial free recall was better for remember (R) words than for forget (F) words under both methods. Offered 50¢ for each additional F word, subjects could recall almost no more items, eliminating a demand characteristics explanation. On ayes/no recognition test, only the item method showed directed forgetting. Retrospective instruction identification was good except for F words under the list method, where performance was at chance. There was no evidence of speed-accuracy tradeoff on the recognition or instruction identification tests. These results bring together the major findings concerning directed forgetting and support a method-based theoretical distinction.
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This research was supported by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Grant A7459. For her assistance in programming and in collecting the data, I am very grateful to Shelley Hodder. For helpful comments on earlier versions, I thank Barbara Basden, David Basden, David Elmes, and Jonathan Golding.
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Macleod, C.M. The item and list methods of directed forgetting: Test differences and the role of demand characteristics. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 6, 123–129 (1999). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03210819
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03210819