COLLECTIVE MEMORY - COLLABORATIVE AND INDIVIDUAL PROCESSES IN REMEMBERING

Two experiments compared collaborative and individual recall. In Exper iment 1, participants encoded pictures and words with a deep or shallo w processing task, then recalled them twice either individually or col laboratively. Collaborative groups recalled more than individuals, but less than nominal groups (pooled individuals), thus exhibiting collab orative inhibition. However, group recall appeared to be more stable o ver time than individual recall. Groups and individuals both showed a picture-superiority effect, a level-of-processing effect, and hypermne sia. In Experiment 2, participants recalled the story ''War of the Gho sts'' (from F. C. Bartlett, 1932), and again collaborative groups reca lled more than individuals, but less than nominal groups. Both the ind ividual and collaborative recalls were highly organized. There was evi dence that the collaborative groups tended to rely on the best individ ual to a greater extent in story than in list recall. Possible social and cognitive mechanisms are considered.