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The hypotheses of this study include: (1) intentional forgetting, operationalized by a forget signal, will produce augmented recall; (2) highly organized groups of sentences will produce the best recall; and (3) anxiety state will produce a complex interaction with the forget signal and degree of organization variable on the amount of materials recalled. Two experiments, one using a recall paradigm and one using a recognition paradigm were run using 40 and 80 male ROTC students respectively. All subjects were given a 20-item anxiety scale. This was followed by five experimentally assigned sentence lists. A forget signal was used. Tentative conclusions for both experiments are: (1) for the recall and recognition of sentences, the forget signal produces augmented recall but operates differentially depending on the degree of organization; (2) this process does not seem to proceed on the basis of rehearsal and dropouts; and (3) the anxiety state is negatively related to performance but not significantly so. (KJ)

In three experiments using a single-trial, free-recall procedure, subjects were sometimes presented a forget cue during a list, meaning that they were not responsible for recalling any of the words which preceded it, only those which followed it. Since the primacy effect over the functional beginning of such lists was not diminished, the proactive inhibition (PI) hypothesis was rejected. The primacy effect may be due to initial list members being relatively free of PI, spending longer time in a limited-capacity rehearsal buffer or being associated with stronger retrieval cues. Tests of memory showed consistently depressed retention of items immediately preceding a forget cue. This result was considered to be more in harmony with a rehearsal-buffer notion than a stronger-retrieval-cues position. (Author)

The STAIC (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children) was administered to 1,522 third and fourth grade Black disadvantaged children from a large metropolitan school district. (Author)

Primary children in the individualized multiage programs (IMP) had lower state and trait anxiety than those in traditional learning environments (TRAD), as measured by the State Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children. The IMP-TRAD instructional programs and trait anxiety had different effects on performance at the first and second grade levels. (Author/BJG)

The systems approach is a technique that can be applied to assist in problem solving and planning, but in itself does not solve problems. (Author)