Enhanced Conversational Recall and Reduced Conversational Interference as a Function of Cognitive Complexity

This study examines the relationship between cognitive complexity and conversational recall. Three hypotheses are put forward arguing that individuals high in cognitive complexity will (a) recall more person-oriented conversational information, (b) recall more person-oriented information in an interference condition, and (c) recall more total information from a conversation than subjects low in cognitive complexity. Subjects were 72 college students who observed a video taped conversation. Recall was elicited by means of a free recall task and an 18-item multiple choice test. MANOVA and canonical discriminant-analysis results support each hypotheses.