Imagery and deep structure in the recall of English nominalizations

Previous experiments on the effects of imageability and deep-structure complexity upon the recall of nominalizations are criticized for employing inappropriate statistical techniques and unsuitable experimental material. Two experiments investigated the immediate free recall of homogeneous lists of items, and found that deep-structure complexity had little effect when imageability was controlled. In a third experiment, subjects were cued with either the participle or the noun belonging to a nominalization, but deep-structure complexity still had no effect. In all three experiments, however, imageability was an important determiner of recall performance