Runquist, W. N. (1978). Physical similarity and stimulus recognition: Interference could still be associative. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory, 4(1), 32-36.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.4.1.32
Conducted a partial replication of an experiment by D. L. Nelson et al (see record 1976-03700-001) in which they concluded that interference effects produced by physical similarity among word stimuli in paired associates result from the disruption of contact with the functional stimulus, and that interference with associative retrieval is minimal. In the present study, 60 undergraduates learned paired-associate lists by a special procedure whereby 6 of the 18 pairs were presented on a study trial, but all 18 pairs were tested. Both recognition of the stimuli presented on the study trial and recall of the associate were required on the test. When the stimulus terms were physically similar, both recognition and recall were poorer than when these items were dissimilar. When recall was contingent on correct recognition, this difference disappeared if the similar stimulus terms consisted of sets of stimuli, but not when they were homogeneously similar throughout the list. This result and several internal analyses suggest that the disappearance of differences in the conditional recall measure is due to a number of artifacts and not to the restriction of similarity-produced interference to functional contact with the stimulus. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)