Emphasizing temporal and semantic associations from encoding affects free recall at retrieval

Paradigms using the free recall of word lists have furthered our understanding of the organizational structure of memory by elucidating the role of contextual associations on memory search. These studies have provided evidence supporting the relationship between the strength of contextual reinstatement and overall memory performance at recall. In the current study, we adapted the traditional word list-learning paradigm to investigate whether emphasizing certain contextual associations between list items would influence subsequent retrieval. Specifically, we introduced a review period between the initial encoding and recall of word lists where items were repeated in an order that highlighted either the temporal or semantic associations at encoding. We found that a temporal review period led to stronger temporal clustering compared to a semantic or a random baseline review period, and a semantic review period led to stronger semantic clustering compared to a temporal or random baseline review period. Moreover, participants recalled more list items when semantic associations were emphasized, with the degree of clustering at recall predicting memory performance. These results demonstrate that emphasizing contextual associations during a review period after initial encoding can affect subsequent memory organization and recall.