Reconstructive recall in sentences with alternative surface structures.

Abstract

The present experiment examined recall for sentences admitting optional surface transformations. Such sentences were consistently more difficult to recall correctly than were control sentences which did not admit optional transformations. There were strong biases in the degree to which the two surface forms of an optional-transform sentence were correctly recalled. The recall biases showed little relation to the transformational status of the sentences, but showed a strong relation to speech production preference ratings, supporting a theory of memory which postulates that sentences are remembered in terms of their underlying meanings and that in recall the speech output system is used to reco~~struct new surface structures for these retained meanings.