WHEN 2 MEMORIES CAN AND CANNOT BE RETRIEVED CONCURRENTLY

We examined whether two memories can be retrieved concurrently from lo ng-term memory. In Experiment 1, the subjects recalled words, either f rom two categories-alternating between the two-or from just one catego ry. In Experiment 2, the subjects recalled two words belonging to eith er the same category or different categories, and the category prompts for these two responses appeared either simultaneously or successivel y. The results of both studies are consistent with the view that two i tems from different categories must be retrieved serially, whereas two items from the same category can be retrieved in parallel.