Free recall and abstractness of stimuli.

The relation of abstractness of stimuli to efficiency of free recall was studied in college and fourth-grade students. Groups were shown a sequence of objects, pictures, and object names and were asked to recall what they had seen. Recall tests were conducted either immediately after presentation of the stimulus-sequence, after 24 hours, or after 1 week. Objects were recalled more frequently than pictures, and pictures more frequently than words. Adults performed better than children, except in the case of objects.