The Use of Ordered Trees for Uncovering Strategies in Free-Recall
Stephen C. Hirtle, Edward J. Crawley · D-Scholarship@Pitt (University of Pittsburgh) · 1988
Complex strategies in free-recall tasks are uncovered using technique of pairwise comparison of recall strings. The technique is used to parse recall trials into distinct sets, thus identifying trials in which the subject used a distinct strategy. The parsing is based on an index of dissimilarity between all pairs of recall strings, where the index is based on the structure of ordered trees. Using this technique, it was possible to identify multiple outliers, circular patterns of recalls, and multiple strategies. The implications of multiple recall strategies on free-recall experiments are discussed.