This paper deals with how properties of a referential noun are organized and retrieved from long-term memory. In two experiments S judged the truth or falsity of previously learned artificial facts, each fact consisting of a noun from a natural language hierarchy paired with an arbitrary digit, e.g., Bird-2. Experiment I used a two-level hierarchy and the results were consistent with Collins and
... [Show full abstract] Quillian's (1969) model which assumes that those properties of a noun which are also properties of its superordinate are stored with and retrieved from the superordinate. Experiment II used a three-level hierarchy and the results were inconsistent with Collins and Quillian's model, but rather supported a model in which all properties of a noun are stored with and retrieved from that noun. A resolution of the present results with those of Collins and Quillian (1969) was discussed.