Naive Mnemonics: What the "Do-Nothing" Control Group Does

In a series of experiments, undergraduates were asked to predict the number of words they could recall from a 15-word list. They were then given the list, and recall performance was recorded. Participants then reported the type of memory aids or mnemonic strategies they had used. The average recall performance of the group was consistently higher than the average recall performance that had been predicted. In all studies, a large number of individuals had perfect or near-perfect recall and reported using sophisticated mnemonic strategies. Strategies were codified into different levels of processing, and these levels were found to be related in a consistent way to recall performance. Individual differences in the effectiveness of strategy utilization were noted. The need to focus on intra-individual change in assessing the impact of training individuals to use mnemonics is discussed, along with the large potential for attenuated results when between groups designs are used in this research area.