Psychology and Behavioral Sciences

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On Arabic Abstract and Concrete Words Recall Using Free Recall Paradigms: Is It Abstractness, Concreteness, or Zero Effect

Received: 19 May 2015    Accepted: 03 June 2015    Published: 25 June 2015
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Abstract

Purpose: To see whether abstract or concrete words are better recalled in free recall type and to measure primacy and recency displayed effects in free recall paradigms. Method: 9 undergraduates in King Saud University, Saudi Arabia, participated in this study where they were trained to differentiate between abstract and concrete words. Then, a list of 20 Arabic abstract and concrete words was given to them to be classified into abstract and concrete words based on four factors: concreteness, imageability, meaningfulness, and age of acquisition. An observation sheet was provided to the experiment administrator to document observed recall effects and recalled words. Three methods were used to facilitate this experiment: auditory, visual, and hand-writing. Five of the participants were asked to recall freely only 5 Arabic abstract words and 5 concrete words. On the hand, 4 were asked to to recall freely the 10 Arabic abstract words and 10 Arabic concrete words. Results: Descriptive and referential statistics tools were run to analyse the collected date. The computed referential statistics tools indicated generally acceptable values and positive usability of the administered measures in this study. Descriptive statistics results indicated a (100) score for the frequency of zero effect over both abstractness and concreteness effects. Results also indicated a negative effect of list length of Arabic abstract and concrete words where the total number of words was recalled completely in both short and long lists of words. Finally, recency effect approved an advantage over primacy effect with (65%) for the former and only (35%) for the latter. Conclusions: There was neither an advantage for abstract words over concrete ones nor an advantage for concrete words over the abstract ones, it was a rather a zero effect. List length effect didn’t affect memory recall during free recall paradigms. Last but not the least, recency effect is more frequent than primacy effect in free recall paradigms.

DOI 10.11648/j.pbs.20150404.13
Published in Psychology and Behavioral Sciences (Volume 4, Issue 4, August 2015)
Page(s) 154-164
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Abstract Words, Concrete Words, Free Recall, Primacy Effect, Recency Effect, List Length Effect, Concreteness Effect, Abstractness Effect, Zero Effect

References
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Author Information
  • Department of Linguistics and Translation Studies, College of Languages and Translation, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

  • Department of Linguistics and Translation Studies, College of Languages and Translation, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

  • Department of Linguistics, Institute of Social Sciences, Ankara University, S?hhiye, Ankara, Turkey

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  • APA Style

    Nasser Saleh Al-Mansour, Yasir Saad Almukhaizeem, Ahmed Mohammed Alduais. (2015). On Arabic Abstract and Concrete Words Recall Using Free Recall Paradigms: Is It Abstractness, Concreteness, or Zero Effect. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, 4(4), 154-164. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20150404.13

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    Nasser Saleh Al-Mansour; Yasir Saad Almukhaizeem; Ahmed Mohammed Alduais. On Arabic Abstract and Concrete Words Recall Using Free Recall Paradigms: Is It Abstractness, Concreteness, or Zero Effect. Psychol. Behav. Sci. 2015, 4(4), 154-164. doi: 10.11648/j.pbs.20150404.13

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    AMA Style

    Nasser Saleh Al-Mansour, Yasir Saad Almukhaizeem, Ahmed Mohammed Alduais. On Arabic Abstract and Concrete Words Recall Using Free Recall Paradigms: Is It Abstractness, Concreteness, or Zero Effect. Psychol Behav Sci. 2015;4(4):154-164. doi: 10.11648/j.pbs.20150404.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.pbs.20150404.13,
      author = {Nasser Saleh Al-Mansour and Yasir Saad Almukhaizeem and Ahmed Mohammed Alduais},
      title = {On Arabic Abstract and Concrete Words Recall Using Free Recall Paradigms: Is It Abstractness, Concreteness, or Zero Effect},
      journal = {Psychology and Behavioral Sciences},
      volume = {4},
      number = {4},
      pages = {154-164},
      doi = {10.11648/j.pbs.20150404.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20150404.13},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.pbs.20150404.13},
      abstract = {Purpose: To see whether abstract or concrete words are better recalled in free recall type and to measure primacy and recency displayed effects in free recall paradigms. Method: 9 undergraduates in King Saud University, Saudi Arabia, participated in this study where they were trained to differentiate between abstract and concrete words. Then, a list of 20 Arabic abstract and concrete words was given to them to be classified into abstract and concrete words based on four factors: concreteness, imageability, meaningfulness, and age of acquisition. An observation sheet was provided to the experiment administrator to document observed recall effects and recalled words. Three methods were used to facilitate this experiment: auditory, visual, and hand-writing. Five of the participants were asked to recall freely only 5 Arabic abstract words and 5 concrete words. On the hand, 4 were asked to to recall freely the 10 Arabic abstract words and 10 Arabic concrete words. Results: Descriptive and referential statistics tools were run to analyse the collected date. The computed referential statistics tools indicated generally acceptable values and positive usability of the administered measures in this study. Descriptive statistics results indicated a (100) score for the frequency of zero effect over both abstractness and concreteness effects. Results also indicated a negative effect of list length of Arabic abstract and concrete words where the total number of words was recalled completely in both short and long lists of words. Finally, recency effect approved an advantage over primacy effect with (65%) for the former and only (35%) for the latter. Conclusions: There was neither an advantage for abstract words over concrete ones nor an advantage for concrete words over the abstract ones, it was a rather a zero effect. List length effect didn’t affect memory recall during free recall paradigms. Last but not the least, recency effect is more frequent than primacy effect in free recall paradigms.},
     year = {2015}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - On Arabic Abstract and Concrete Words Recall Using Free Recall Paradigms: Is It Abstractness, Concreteness, or Zero Effect
    AU  - Nasser Saleh Al-Mansour
    AU  - Yasir Saad Almukhaizeem
    AU  - Ahmed Mohammed Alduais
    Y1  - 2015/06/25
    PY  - 2015
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20150404.13
    DO  - 10.11648/j.pbs.20150404.13
    T2  - Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
    JF  - Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
    JO  - Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
    SP  - 154
    EP  - 164
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-7845
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20150404.13
    AB  - Purpose: To see whether abstract or concrete words are better recalled in free recall type and to measure primacy and recency displayed effects in free recall paradigms. Method: 9 undergraduates in King Saud University, Saudi Arabia, participated in this study where they were trained to differentiate between abstract and concrete words. Then, a list of 20 Arabic abstract and concrete words was given to them to be classified into abstract and concrete words based on four factors: concreteness, imageability, meaningfulness, and age of acquisition. An observation sheet was provided to the experiment administrator to document observed recall effects and recalled words. Three methods were used to facilitate this experiment: auditory, visual, and hand-writing. Five of the participants were asked to recall freely only 5 Arabic abstract words and 5 concrete words. On the hand, 4 were asked to to recall freely the 10 Arabic abstract words and 10 Arabic concrete words. Results: Descriptive and referential statistics tools were run to analyse the collected date. The computed referential statistics tools indicated generally acceptable values and positive usability of the administered measures in this study. Descriptive statistics results indicated a (100) score for the frequency of zero effect over both abstractness and concreteness effects. Results also indicated a negative effect of list length of Arabic abstract and concrete words where the total number of words was recalled completely in both short and long lists of words. Finally, recency effect approved an advantage over primacy effect with (65%) for the former and only (35%) for the latter. Conclusions: There was neither an advantage for abstract words over concrete ones nor an advantage for concrete words over the abstract ones, it was a rather a zero effect. List length effect didn’t affect memory recall during free recall paradigms. Last but not the least, recency effect is more frequent than primacy effect in free recall paradigms.
    VL  - 4
    IS  - 4
    ER  - 

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