Abstract

The frequency information on occurrence of a stimulus may be encoded automatically or computed at retrieval. In this study, we investigated whether the frequency information on occurrence of a superordinate category was encoded automatically or computed at retrieval. In experiment 1, manipulating attention and typicality of exemplars, we found that frequency information could be encoded only with attentional effort and computed at retrieval. In experiment 2, we asked subjects to speak of names of it's superordinate categories when exemplars were displayed. Such a manipulation to activate directly a superordinate category had influenced on the accuracy of frequency estimations in the frequency instruction condition only in which subject tried to encode frequency informations intentionally. In experiment 3, manipulating response time limit and typicality of exemplars, the effect of typicality was founded in the short response condition only. These results contradict with the view that the frequency information on occurrence of a superordinate category is encoded automatically.