Incidental and Intentional Recall of Item Names and Spatial Locations

Recent studies have indicated that there are no differences between the incidental and intentional recall of spatial location; whereas, intentional recall is superior to incidental recall of verbal information. In order to examine the variables that affect recall, second graders, fifth graders and adults were instructed to learn the location or the name of seven highly discriminable or less discriminable objects presented in a spatial array. Analysis of names recalled indicated that high discriminability enhanced recall, and that intent to learn facilitated recall, particularly for adult males. Recall increased with age, and females recalled more names than did males. Analysis of spatial location, as measured by centimeters displaced, indicated that highly discriminable stimuli improved recall of location, and that intent to learn enhanced recall of spatial location. A measure of congruence compared the overall accuracy of obtained spatial configurations to the actual spatial array. High discriminability facilitated recall of the configuration, and intentional learning of the array improved recall, especially for fifth grade males. These results suggest that the recall of spatial location is improved by instructions to learn and high stimulus discriminability. They also indicate that a more thorough examination of developmental differences and sex differences would contribute to the understanding of spatial learning ability.