Part-set cuing in incidental and implicit memory

We report inhibitory effects of part-set cuing in an incidental memory task. Even when subjects did not expect a memory test during study, re-presentation of some of the study words (Experiments 1 and 2) or presentation of related words (Experiment 3) during test inhibited memory performance. Also, in Experiment 3, inhibitory effects of part-set cuing emerged when subjects were completing fragments of the studied words, but only when they were explicitly trying to remember those words from the list. There was a facilitatory effect of part-set cuing when subjects were simply completing the fragments with the first words they could think of. These results suggest that the part-set cuing effect is largely independent of what happens during the study phase and dependent on a deliberate effort to remember during the test phase.