Title: The Ranschburg effect: Modification of guessing strategies by context
Abstract: A guessing strategy interpretation of the Ranschburg effect-poor recall of repeated items in a short sequence-was tested by manipulating repetition frequency in the surrounding sequence. Three groups of 32 college students were tested with high-, low-, and mixed-repetition structure lists. The usual Ranschburg effect was obtained in the low-repetition group, but no significant differences were found on the high-repetition group. Performance in the mixed-repetition structure group was intermediate, but comparison of high and low sublists within the mixed condition revealed nearly identical performance for both sublists, more similar to the separate high-repetition group than to the low group.