Emergence and recovery of initially unavailable perceptual material.

This experiment investigated whether free associations aid in the recovery of initially unavailable elements of a perceived stimulus (Recovery), and whether unavailable details of the stimulus are present in the content of those associations (Emergence). Three groups were tested: an experimental group which saw a picture briefly, attempted to recall it, then gave extensive free associations, followed by a second recall; a similarly treated control group which, however, played darts instead of associating; and another control group which was shown the initial recall attempts of yoked experimental Ss rather than the original stimulus, but then associated and in all other respects were treated similarly to the experimental group. The improvement in recall of the experimental group was superior to that of either control group, indicating that free associations result in a recovery of initially unavailable stimulus elements. Analysis of the free-association material indicated that emergence of a percept in fantasy was an increasing function of the level of consciousness of that percept (unregistered