Recognition Failure of Recallable Unique Names: Evidence For an Empirical Law of Memory and Learning

An experiment is described in which subjects (N = 106) studied unique names of famous individuals, such as ISAAC NEWTON and GEORGE WASHINGTON, and unique geographic names, such as TORONTO and STOCKHOLM, in the context of descriptive phrases. In a subsequent recognition test of the names in the absence of their study context, subjects failed to recognize many names that they could recall in the presence of the study context. These results (a) demonstrate the generality of the phenomenon of recognition failure of recallable words, (b) limit Muter's (1984) claim that unique names of famous people constitute an exception to the Tulving-Wiseman (1975) function, and (c) provide further support for an empirical law concerning the relation between recognition and recall.

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