Patterns in the Recall of Persons

Abstract : This paper reports on the patterns in the recall of persons in a contemporary, socially bounded community. The associative, serial order, and frequency response patterns in the free recall of persons' names among students in a graduate academic program were found to be based on the program's cohort structure. Several observations on patterns in the recall of persons' names in this community paralleled findings from research on the recall of lexical items. The results suggested that individual informants' different positions in the cohort structure produced systematic variation in social knowledge of fellow students.