DIFFERENCES IN INTENTIONAL RETRIEVAL DURING INCLUSION AND EXCLUSION TASKS

The process dissociation approach assumes that intentional retrieval p rocesses operate in the same manner during inclusion and exclusion tas ks. The present research shows that this assumption is not always tena ble. After completing a word stem according to inclusion or exclusion instructions, subjects were asked whether they had recalled a word pre sented during study while completing the stem. Stem completion latenci es were also recorded. When the exclusion task was described as a crea tivity test (Experiment 2), subjects recalled almost twice as many wor ds during inclusion than during exclusion trials. Also, completion lat encies were longer on inclusion trials, suggesting that on these trial s subjects tried hard to remember old words. When instructions stresse d that recall of old words was as important on exclusion as on inclusi on trials (Experiment 1), recall rates did not differ significantly be tween both kinds of trials. However, completion latencies were signifi cantly longer on inclusion trials, showing that, despite instructions, subjects still invested more effort in trying to remember old words d uring inclusion trials. The implications of these findings for future process dissociation research are discussed.