In episodic memory tasks, associations are formed between items presented close together in time. The temporal context model (TCM) hypothesizes that this contiguity effect is a consequence of shared temporal context rather than temporal proximity per se. Using double-function lists of paired associates (e.g., A-B, B-C) presented in a random order,…

We tested recognition memory for items and associations in memory-impaired patients with bilateral lesions thought to be limited to the hippocampal region. In Experiment 1 (Combined memory test), participants studied words and then took a memory test in which studied words, new words, studied word pairs, and recombined word pairs were presented in…

Indicates that substantial levels of free recall learning are necessary before there is significant subsequent interference with incompatible pairings of these same items. (AN)

THE AIM OF THIS STUDY WAS TO COMPARE CONSTRUCTION AND STORAGE EXPLANATIONS OF THE FACILITATING EFFECT UPON RECALL OF ASSOCIATIVE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN WORDS EMBEDDED IN CONNECTED DISCOURSE. ONE GROUP OF 36 UNDERGRADUATE SUBJECTS WAS EXPOSED TO A PASSAGE THAT CONTAINED ASSOCIATIVELY RELATED WORD PAIRS, WHILE TWO OTHER GROUPS WERE GIVEN PASSAGES…

Article describes an experiment establishing the influence of meaningfulness of the ease of learning verbal material. (Author/MM)

Three experiments assessing the effects of nonbizarre versus bizarre pictorial elaboration on the paired-associate retention of noun pairs were conducted with kindergarten and second-grade children. Both pictorial elaborations were found to facilitate performance relative to a standard presentation condition and forgetting of pairs was equivalent.…

Cued recall of items sharing a common property was compared to recall of items sharing no property. The latter were better recalled, but the former were recalled no better when cued by their unique property than by their shared property. (Author/PN)

RESULTS OF AN EARLIER STUDY SUGGEST THAT SENTENCES BEGINNING WITH NOUNS OF HIGH RESPONSE STRENGTH ARE EASIER TO LEARN THAN SENTENCES ENDING WITH NOUNS OF HIGH RESPONSE STRENGTH. THE INFERENCE DERIVED FROM THAT STUDY, AND TESTED IN THE PRESENT STUDY, WAS THAT THE ORDER OF A WORD IN NATURAL SPEECH IS A FUNCTION OF RESPONSE STRENGTH, SO THAT WORDS…

A group of 19 subjects was exposed to a verbal passage for learning that contained associatively related words, while a second group of 19 subjects was exposed to the identical passage but with high association (HA) words replaced by low association (LA) words. A written prompted recall test followed presentation. Group HA had as prompts all of…

Free recall of concrete and abstract words, following imaginal, associative, or anagram incidental learning tasks, was tested. Recall was significantly greater for concrete than abstract words, and recall for the imaginal task exceeded that of the associative task, which exceeded that of the anagram task. The interaction between kind of word and…

Can the laws of learning be applied in the classroom? The issue is whether control over the stimulus affords management-control over the learning processes within the student. The S-R (stimulus-response) position in psychology, most notably associated with Skinner, tends to accept and assert the affirmative. However, accumulated experience with…