The recall of verbal material accompanying semantically well-integrated and semantically poorly-integrated sentences

This study tested the hypothesis that the recall of verbal material (critical material) accompanying semantically well-integrated (SWI) sentences will be superior to the recall of verbal material accompanying semantically poorly integrated (SPI) sentences. Complex sentences were constructed which contained two underlying sentences: a matrix sentence and an embedded sentence. Under the SWI condition, one underlying sentence was an SWI string, while under the SPI condition one was an SPI string. The critical material (identical for both levels of semantic integration) was contained in the second underlying sentence. The location of the critical material (i.e., whether it was the matrix or the embedded underlying sentence) was varied. A list-learning study-test procedure was used with 5 trials. The results indicated superior recall for the critical material under the SWI condition, and were interpreted in terms of a storage hypothesis.