Paired-Associate Learning and Free Recall of Nouns as a Function of Concreteness,Specificity,Imagery,and Meaningfulness

Abstract

Abstractness-concreteness and generality-specificity of words were simultaneously varied in a factorial design on the stimulus and response sides of paired-associate lists constructed from 96 nouns. The analysis of recall scores from the auditory presentation of 2 alternating study trials and recall trials revealed significant (p < .001) effects of both variables on the stimulus side of pairs. A smaller effect on the response side was significant (p < .05) only in the case of specificity. A second experiment showed positive effects (p < .001) of both concreteness and specificity on free recall. Mean scores were also available for the nouns on their rated capacity to evoke sensory images (I) and on their meaningfulness (m). A correlational analysis indicated that, of the attributes involved, I correlated most highly with learning scores. Furthermore, consistent with the hypothesis that stimulus-evoked imagery can mediate response recall, the superiority of I was greatest when the items served as stimulus terms in PA learning.

References

Epstein

Rock

Zuckerman

C. B.

Meaning and familiarity in associative learning. Psychol. Monogr., 1960, 74, No. 4 (Whole No. 491).

Gorman

A. M.

Recognition memory for nouns as a function of abstractness and frequency. J. exp. Psychol., 1961, 61, 23–29.

Jampolsky

Etude de quelques epreuves de reconnaissance. Annee psychol., 1950, 49, 63–97.

Kusyszyn

Paivio

Transition probability, word order, and noun abstractness in the learning of adjective-noun paired associates. J. exp. Psychol., 1966, 71, 800–805.

Noble

C. E.

An analysis of meaning. Psychol. Rep., 1952, 59, 421–430.

Olver

M. A.

Abstractness, imagery, and meaningfulness in recognition and free recall. Unpublished master's thesis, Univer. of Western Ontario, 1965.

Paivio

Learning of adjective-noun paired associates as a function of adjective-noun word order and noun abstractness. Canad. J. Psychol., 1963, 17, 370–379.

Paivio

Abstractness, imagery, and meaningfulness in paired-associate learning. J. verb. Learn. verb. Behav., 1965, 4, 32–38.

Paivio

Latency of verbal associations and imagery to noun stimuli as a function of abstractness and generality. Canad. J. Psychol., 1966, 20, 378–387.

10.

Paivio

A factor-analytic study of word attributes and verbal learning. J. verb. Learn. verb. Behav., in press.

11.

Paivio

Olver

Denotative-generality, imagery, and meaningfulness in paired-associate learning of nouns. Psychon. Sci., 1964, 1, 183–184.

12.

Paivio

Yuille

Smythe

Stimulus and response abstractness, imagery, and meaningfulness, and reported mediators in paired-associate learning. Canad. J. Psychol., 1966, 20, 362–377.

13.

Miller

G. A.

Galanter

Pribram

K. H.

Plans and the structure of behavior. New York: Holt, 1960.

14.

Reese

Imagery in paired-associate learning in children. J. exp. child Psychol., 1965, 2, 290–296.

15.

Spiker

C. C.

Associative transfer in verbal paired-associate learning. Child Develpm., 1960, 31, 73–87.

16.

Stoke

S. M.

Memory for cnomatopes. J. genet. Psychol., 1929, 36, 594–596.

17.

Thorndike

E. L.

Lorge

The teacher's word book of 30,000 words. New York: Bur. of Publ., Teachers' Coll., 1944.

18.

Tulving

McNulty

J. A.

Ozier

Vividness of words and learning to learn in free-recall learning. Canad. J. Psychol., 1965, 19, 242–252.

19.

Winnick

W. A.

Kressel

Tachistoscopic recognition thresholds, paired-associate learning, and immediate recall as a function of abstractness-concreteness and word frequency. J. exp. Psychol., 1965, 70, 163–168.

20.

Yarmey

A. D.

Paivio

Further evidence on the effects of word abstractness and meaningfulness in paired-associate learning. Psychon. Sci., 1965, 2, 307–308.