Free recall of random lists of words is a standard way to probe human memory. We proposed the associative search process that can be mathematically solved, providing an analytical prediction for the average number of words recalled from a list of an arbitrary length. Previously reported free recall performance depended on experimental details. Since recall could be affected by variability in words acquisition, we designed a protocol where participants performed both recall and recognition

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... , using the latter to estimate the number of acquired words. The results closely match theoretical prediction. We conclude that memory recall operates according to a stereotyped search process common to all people.