We report time resolved studies of optically induced circular dichroism in room temperature GaAs/AlGaAs multiple quantum wells to resolve spin-dependent and spin-independent contributions to exciton saturation. Phase-space filling and Coulomb contributions were separated by spin dependence while the effects of broadening and screening were distinguished using different pulse bandwidths. Bound and free carrier contributions were compared by observing the temporal dependence of the circular dichroism on femtosecond timescales. The spin independent contribution to exciton saturation was found to be independent of whether the carriers were bound or free. ©1997 American Institute of Physics.