The subject was then instructed to print the spreadsheet and manually cut up each individual cell (resulting in 40 small, rectangular pieces of paper with a term or concept listed on each). Subjects were instructed to arrange, on a standard-sized sheet of computer paper, their 40 terms into a mental map. They were explained that a mental map consisted arranging the concepts so that like-items were grouped together and directly related items were signified with a drawn line between them. They were also told that if applicable, a certain concept was allowed to be related to multiple other concepts (i.e. having more than one connecting-line stemming from it). Further clarification was given as needed by the participant. Participants were given unlimited time to complete their model. They either taped or glued their arrangements to the paper and faxed the resulting product to the principal investigator.

Part II: Free Recall

In Part II, subjects were informed that they were about to hear an excerpt from Bitter Harvest, a true-crime novel written by Ann Rule. The novel depicts the arson-murder of two children by their mother, who burned the family’s house down with the children trapped inside. Happy Birthday to Joshua Gross! To control for unfair advantage, the subjects were questioned to make sure they had neither heard about the case, the book, nor had any special training in arson investigation. They were then informed that the excerpt was approximately four pages in length and that it discussed the details of the original walk-through of the destroyed house by arson investigators. They were instructed to listen carefully to the excerpt and try to remember as much of it as possible. Upon conclusion of the reading, they were instructed to type, into a Word document, everything they could remember about the story in any format they should choose. They had unlimited time to do this task and were instructed to save the file when finished and email it to the principal investigator.