Through experimentation with verbal discrimination learning paradigms, the author finds that learning is increased with verbal rehearsal as compared to silent rehearsal. Author suggests that unique effects are associated with pronouncing items out loud. (Author/MS)

Sixty college subjects were administered low frequency verbal discrimination lists under the conditions of pronouncing versus button pressing as a method of choice. There were sixteen word pairs in each list, and the words were three- and four-letter low frequency words selected from the Thorndike-Lorge tables. Four random orders of the pairs were…

The present study attempted to elicit covert verbalization with a bit more assurance, as compared to Gagne and Smith, and to compare the effects of instructions to covertly verbalize with instructions to talk out loud while solving problems. (Author/MS)

A total of 48 fifth-grade and 30 nursery-school subjects were administered picture pairs in a discrimination learning experiment. In addition to a control group, one group of subjects (pre-choice) was instructed to pronounce both items before choosing one, and another group (post-choice) was told to say both items after choosing one. The…

Previous research has found that spoken rehearsal is superior to silent rehearsal during verbal discrimination learning. The frequency theory posits that verbal discrimination (VD) learning improves as the frequency differential between the correct and incorrect member of each pair increases. Erlebacher, Hill, and Wallace (1967) tested this…

The study of verbal behavior has a long history in the Soviet Union, and some of the studies, especially those related to verbal conditioning and learning, have had considerable impact on Western research, particularly in the United States. The view set forth in this paper is that "voluntary behavior" is only that behavior which is…

The frequency theory of verbal discrimination learning makes no distinction between silent and spoken rehearsal. Further, the frequency theory predicts that the study-test method of list presentation is superior to the anticipation method. College students, performing under silent and spoken rehearsal conditions, learned 16 low-frequency…