This experiment examined accessibility of an item to recall by varying an associative hierarchy factor of relative distance (RD) which was defined as distance of communality of primary associate to secondary one. Two lists of R (remote distance) vs N (near distance) words were randomized and verbally presented. Ss' immediate free recall showed that amount of correct recall and extraneous intrusion was significantly more frequent in the N list than in the R list. As the stimulus words were controlled for possible associative indices except RD, associative function in recall was discussed.
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