Prior Knowledge and the Recall of Single Events and Instances of Repeated Events: A Registered Report

High prior knowledge facilitates learning of new related material by providing structures enhancing comprehension and facilitating recall. Previous studies examining the effects of prior knowledge used single-event stimuli while neglecting the repetitive nature of everyday experience and the potential of repetition to generate knowledge structures. In the current study, we used the repeated event paradigm to investigate the interaction between the effects of prior knowledge and repetition on event memory. In Experiment 1, we validated three sets of stimuli in which we manipulated prior knowledge. Participants viewed and later recalled four instances of a repeated event (e.g., four variations of a story). As predicted, participants recalled more correct details and rated their level of understanding higher for instances where prior knowledge was high than low. In Experiment 2, we extended the examination by comparing the effect of prior knowledge on recall of a single event and instances of a repeated event. We replicated findings from previous research (typically using high prior knowledge stimuli): participants recalled more correct details of a single event compared to the final instance of a repeated event, and contrary to our expectations, this pattern was consistent across prior knowledge conditions. Exploratory comparison of recall between the single event and the first instance of a repeated event showed a small and nonsignificant difference. Findings of this study inform us about the underlying processes that impact recall of instances of repeated events for different levels of prior knowledge.