recall

Meaning: Recall is retrieval in which a person produces previously encoded information with few or no cues. Free recall allows any order, serial recall requires the original order, and cued recall supplies a hint such as a category. Retrieval usually improves when cues match the conditions at encoding (encoding specificity), including setting or mood. Recall, recognition, and relearning are the three standard measures of memory.

On the MCAT: A passage often has participants study a word list and then write down what they remember. Free recall typically shows the serial position effect: a primacy effect for early items, which had time to be rehearsed into long-term memory, and a recency effect for the last items, which are still in working memory. A delay with a distractor task usually weakens recency more than primacy. Recognition scores are typically higher than recall scores.

Common confusion: Recall is not recognition. Multiple-choice questions mostly test recognition, so they usually feel easier than short-answer questions, which require recall. Failing to recall does not prove the memory is gone; a cue that brings it back shows it was stored but hard to retrieve.