The effect of illustrative details on the recall of main points in simple fictional and factual passages

Abstract

In a passage containing main points and illustrative details, do the details facilitate the memorization of the main points? Previous studies on this question suggest that the answer depends on the nature of the passage: For short simple stories, main points were remembered better as more details were added; for longer, more difficult, factual passages, instead, main points were better conveyed by summaries in which the details had been removed. The aim of the experiment reported here is to find out whether this difference is due to the fact/fiction variable. Six simple two‐paragraph passages were used, each passage existing in three versions (short, medium, long) in which the main points were illustrated by varying numbers of details. The results showed that for fictional and factual passages of this kind, the addition of details improves recall of main points. Some possible explanations of this finding, and of the earlier contrary finding, are suggested.