Learning and forgetting of narratives following good and poor text organization

People remember stories better if the stories are presented in good form rather than in poor form. In three experiments, college students repeatedly read and recalled the same stories presented in good and poor form to determine whether (1) this widely reported, "good form" effect is transitory or long-lasting, and (2) the effect is equally present for learning and forgetting of information. During the learning phase, the effect was, indeed, long-lasting. Subjects still showed superior recall of narratives presented in standard order (good form) after as many as nine rereadings and three repeated recall attempts. However, the rate of forgetting story information after 1 day and after 1 week was not differentially influenced by good form.