Abstract
Semantic positive forgetting refers to making to-be-remembered (TBR) vs. to-be-forgotten (TBF) judgments for sequentially presented sentences on the basis of the semantic content of the sentences. Geiselman (1975) has shown that a logical order of presentation for the TBF as well as for the TBR sentences facilitates TBR-sentence recall. The results of the present experiment show that the TBF sentences are also recalled better if presented in a logical order. This paradox of better recall of both TBF and TBR material resulting from the logical ordering of TBF material was interpreted as supporting a “concise-differential-grouping” notion in which sequential organization is said to facilitate the formation of functionally distinct TBR and TBF memory groupings.
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Bellezza, F. S., & Richards, D. L. Semantic processing and organization in word recall. Paper presented at the meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, May 1975.
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Geiselman, R.E., Riehle, J.P. The fate of to-be-forgotten sentences in semantic positive forgetting. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 6, 19–21 (1975). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03333132
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03333132