Item memory (e.g., recall or recognition of specific items) can reactively change when metacognitively monitored via judgments of learning (JOLs). The current research explores whether memory for inter-item relations (e.g., semantic relations among list items) is reactively influenced by JOLs. Participants in Experiment 1 studied rhyming word…

Making judgments of learning (JOLs) can sometimes modify subsequent memory performance, which is referred to as JOL reactivity. We evaluated two major theoretical explanations of JOL reactivity and used the dual-retrieval model to pinpoint the retrieval processes that are modified by JOLs. The changed-goal hypothesis assumes that JOLs highlight…

One of the major questions in psychology is whether associative and nonassociative learning are fundamentally different or whether they involve similar processes and mechanisms. We have addressed this question by comparing mechanisms of a nonassociative form of learning, sensitization, and an associative form of learning, classical conditioning of…

What happens to memories as we forget? They might gradually lose fidelity, lose their associations (and thus be retrieved in response to the incorrect cues), or be completely lost. Typical long-term memory studies assess memory as a binary outcome (correct/incorrect), and cannot distinguish these different kinds of forgetting. Here we assess…

Unexpected outcomes can reflect noise in the environment or a change in the current rules. We should ignore noise but shift strategy after rule changes. How we learn to do this is unclear, but one possibility is that it relies on learning to learn in uncertain environments. We propose that acquisition of latent task structure during learning to…

This article reviews the literature on learning and memory in the soil-dwelling nematode "Caenorhabditis elegans." Paradigms include nonassociative learning, associative learning, and imprinting, as worms have been shown to habituate to mechanical and chemical stimuli, as well as learn the smells, tastes, temperatures, and oxygen levels that…

College undergraduates learned word lists involving three-term contingencies (stimulus-response-outcome). Learning rate was correlated approximately 0.5 with scores on Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices (Raven) but did not correlate significantly with several tasks (inspection time, card-sorting, trail-making, PASAT) shown to be associated with…

Three clearly distinguishable lists were given simultaneously for learning. In one condition, subjects recalled all three lists; in a second condition, each list was given a different type of retention test although one of the lists was recalled. All subjects were fully informed of the materials and tests. The critical interest was in the recall…

A new paradigm is presented for investigating how intervening concepts are learned. Results of four experiments involving 85 college students provide converging evidence for the acquisition of intervening concepts. A simple associative learning mechanism is proposed to account for the results. The new paradigm uses a stimulus-response-feedback…

Reports results of an experiment involving a hydranencephalic infant lacking cerebral hemispheres and a normal twin in testing for associative learning. Cardiac orienting responses to stimulus omission indicated that learning had taken place in both infants. (CS)

This paper reports on three separate experiments conducted to examine the roles of particular task and subject characteristics in noun pair learning. In all three studies noun pairs were presented either in noun-verb-noun-conjunction-pronoun (NVNCP) or noun-conjunction-noun-verb-pronoun (NCNVP) contexts. In experiment 1, learning was assessed…

Compared was the effectiveness of language development training in 29 educable retarded children (mean CA 7.7 years) and associative grouping training in 32 educable retarded children (mean CA 8.3 years). Trained teachers instructed the children for daily half-hour sessions using either the Peabody Language Development Kit or sequenced activities…

Two studies were conducted to determine the usefulness of the Sampling Organization and Recall through Strategies (SORTS) test and the effectiveness of teaching grouping strategies to young handicapped children (mean ages 9 and 6 years). In both studies, SORTS was used to develop and implement instruction in organizational strategy. In the first…

In an attempt to specify the nature of the variables associated with socioeconomic status, Jensen has proposed a two-level model of mental abilities. The first level represents associative learning. The second level involves higher-order conceptualization, and problem solving. The purpose of the present study was to develop a matrix completion…