Relationships between personality variables and bizarreness effects in free recall

BRETT J. MOSS, JAMES B. WORTHEN, LESLIE A. HAYDEL, BLAITHIN D. MAC MAHON, and SARAH C. SAVOY
Southeastern Louisiana University

Relationships between 6 personality variables and each of 3 different measures of recall for bizarre and common sentences were examined. The personality variables investigated included measures of sensation seeking, novelty experiencing, desire for novelty, arousal-seeking tendency, social potency, and conservatism. Recall was measured in terms of sentences accessed, target words recovered per accessed sentence, and misplaced target words. The results indicated the typical pattern of bizarreness effects on recall and significant relationships between personality variables and these effects. Arousal seeking and conservatism were positively related to a bizarreness advantage in sentences accessed. Additionally, high social potency was related to the recovery of more details from common than bizarre sentences, and high desire for novelty was related to a greater bizarre misplacement effect. The results are discussed in terms of orienting and defensive responses to bizarreness.