The locus of the retention differences associated with degree of hierarchical conceptual structure.

The intent of the study was to identify more precisely the characteristics of the memory for structured and unstructured lists. By so doing it was believed that the characteristic or characteristics responsible for the differences in retention might be isolated. Two different levels of learning were used as a means of varying the degree to which the conceptual structure had become a part of the memory for the lists. Since the utilization of a conceptual structure to mediate item placement at the time of retention may be critically time dependent, three different types of retention tests were used, namely, paced and unpaced recall, and unpaced associative matching.