"Lists consisting of 15 words each were presented to Ss for immediate free recall. For each of the 18 lists a measure of inter-item associative strength was obtained; this consisted of the average relative frequency with which all items in a list tend to elicit all other items on the list as free associates. Inter-item associative strength was positively correlated (.88) with the number of words recalled per list, negatively correlated (- .48) with the number of extra-list intrusions in recall, and positively correlated (.55) with the commonality of the extra-list intrusions that did occur. In general, these results are consistent with an interpretation of free recall in terms of free association. The fact that Ss in the present experiment gave no evidence of using an extra-list associative mnemonic device made available to them suggests that the free association from item to item in recall is not the result of Ss instructing themselves to free associate in order to increase recall.".