On the utility of the keyword mnemonic for vocabulary learning.

Examined the use of the keyword mnemonic for vocabulary learning by university students given extensive keyword training. Keywords were identified by the learners rather than supplied by the experimenter. In Exp 1, Ss studied and recalled English equivalents of German nouns before and after mnemonic training under different presentation conditions. Before training, learning was 60% better with 4 list presentations at a 2.5-s rate (4?×?2.5) than with 1 presentation at a 10-s rate (1?×?10). Learning was better after training, especially in the 1?×?10 condition; Ss reported difficulty using the keyword mnemonic in the 4?×?2.5 condition despite higher learning scores in that condition after training. In Exp 2, Ss learned brief definitions of unusual words with self-paced presentation. The keyword Ss scored significantly more poorly than controls on items not selected for keyword suitability, and additional data indicated that it was difficult to generate keywords for many of those items and that an alternative mediational strategy was preferred. A 3rd experiment showed no learning difference between the keyword-generated version of the keyword method used in Exps 1 and 2 and a keyword-supplied condition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Presentation rates in experiments on mnemonics: A methodological note.

Argues that for simple vocabulary items, the amount that Ss can learn during a given period of study is markedly underestimated when unusually slow (8-sec or slower) presentation rates are imposed. That disadvantage apparently is less when Ss use the keyword mnemonic. Most researchers who have shown the keyword method to be superior to a nonmnemonic control condition may have overestimated the extent of keyword superiority under typical conditions, in which Ss have not been constrained by slow presentation rates. The use of self-pacing or of multiple-rate conditions in such experiments is suggested. (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A Mnemonic Method for Learning a Second-Language Vocabulary.

Four experiments evaluate the effectiveness of a two-stage mnemonic procedure, the keyword method, for learning foreign language vocabulary. Stage 1, the acoustic link stage, involves associating the spoken foreign word to an English "keyword" that sounds like some part of the foreign word. Stage 2, the imagery link stage, requires the formation of a mental image of the keyword interacting with the English translation. The experiments compare the keyword method with various control procedures for learning a Spanish vocabulary. In all cases, the keyword method proved to be highly effective, yielding in one experiment a final test score of 88% correct for the keyword group compared to 28% for the control group. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mnemotechnics in second-language learning.

Discusses the author's keyword method, a mnemonic aid for vocabulary learning. According to this method, a foreign word is connected to its English translation by a chain of 2 links-similarity in sound (acoustic link) and a mental image of the interaction between the 2 words (imagery link). Experiments using Russian and Spanish vocabularies are described to illustrate that the keyword method produces significantly greater vocabulary recall than the rote-rehearsal method of second-language learning. Results also suggest that (a) providing the keywords for the S is better than having him generate his own keywords, (b) imagery instructions have a significant advantage over sentence-generation instructions when the keyword method is used, (c) the keyword method does not affect word retrieval times, and (d) the keyword method produces significantly better backward associations than the rote-rehearsal method. Problems in the application of the method are considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cross-language postevent misinformation effects in Spanish–English bilingual witnesses.

Three experiments examined whether postevent misinformation affects eyewitness memory across languages in bilingual witnesses. Participants watched a videotaped simulation of a robbery, read a postevent narrative that contained misleading information about the robbery, and answered either forced-choice or cued-recall questions about 6 target items from the videotape. Experiment I was conducted entirely in English, but Experiments 2 and 3 tested Spanish–English bilingual participants who were exposed to 1 of 3 language combinations of the postevent narrative and memory test—Spanish–Spanish, English–Spanish, or Spanish–English (as well as English–English in Experiment 3). Across all 3 experiments, the effects of postevent misinformation were as large in the cross-language conditions as in the same-language conditions. This study has important implications for the justice system, and the results suggest new ways to study postevent misinformation effects and bilingual memory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Negative recency and levels of processing in free recall.

Compared initial and final free recall of 5-item lists for 4 different "processing activities"; during list presentation 32 undergraduates either silently rehearsed, overtly rehearsed, generated rhymes, or generated verbal associates. Whereas the 2 rehearsal conditions showed a marked superiority in immediate free recall, their final (delayed) recall was inferior to that of lists for which associates were generated. It appears that the negative recency effect commonly obtained in delayed recall is a consequence of processing strategies which maximize the recency effect in immediate recall. (French summary) (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The keyword method and children's learning of foreign vocabulary with abstract meanings.

76 5th-graders were taught the English translations of 20 Spanish nouns; 10 possessed concrete referents and 10 did not. Three different variations of the mnemonic keyword method (imagery, sentence, and imagery-or-sentence) were compared to each other and a no-strategy control group. Each of the 3 keyword variations greatly facilitated Ss' learning of both concrete and abstract words, and no differences were found among the 3 keyword variations. (French abstract) (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's use of the keyword method to learn simple Spanish vocabulary words.

Assessed children's ability to use a mnemonic procedure to learn foreign language vocabulary, the keyword method, using 107 2nd and 5th graders as Ss. To remember a foreign word translation, the keyword method user (a) associates the foreign word to an English word (the keyword) that sounds like part of the foreign word, and (b) remembers a picture of the keyword and translation referents interacting. Ss who were instructed in keyword method use and provided with interactive pictures for each vocabulary item remembered more simple Spanish vocabulary translations than did control Ss not instructed to use the keyword method. Learning the acoustic links without a keyword method instruction did not improve vocabulary learning. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Extending the irrelevant speech effect beyond serial recall.

The irrelevant speech effect is the impairment of immediate memory by the presentation of to-be-ignored speech stimuli. The irrelevant speech effect has been limited to serial recall, but this series of 8 experiments demonstrates that it is considerably more general. Exps 1–3 show that (1) irrelevant speech inhibits free recall more than does white noise, (2) irrelevant speech impairs free recall even when the speech occurs after the to-be-recalled items, and (3) free recall is inhibited even when the speech is meaningless. Exp 4 failed to find an effect in free recall with 16-item lists. Exps 5A–5C extend the effect to recognition of 8-, 12-, and 16-item lists, with both phonologically related and phonologically unrelated lure items. Exp 6 extends the effect to a cued recall task that discourages the use of serial rehearsal of the to-be-remembered items. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Aging and the total presentation time hypothesis.

The "total time" hypothesis predicts that word lists equal in total exposure time will have the same recall time regardless of the time of presentation or length of list. To test this hypothesis with older Ss, 36 Ss of similar backgrounds and 3 age groups (20–40, 41–60, 61–80 yrs) were shown 4 word lists in which rate of presentation and length of list were varied but total presentation time was the same. Recall performance was significantly related to age, list length, and presentation rate, but there were no interactions. It is concluded that the total time hypothesis holds regardless of age. (5 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A developmental study of Spanish-English production in bilingual children.

30 Spanish–English bilingual and 30 English monolingual children aged 3–7 yrs were asked to imitate Spanish and English lexical and syntactic constructions. Lexical items contained phonemes that have been previously identified as "high risk" for monolingual speakers of Spanish or English. Therefore, specific error patterns were predictable. Sentence constructions emphasized plurality, possessiveness, and adjective–noun word order. Monolinguals and bilinguals did not significantly differ on English imitations: Both groups scored near 100% correct. As expected, bilinguals scored significantly higher than monolinguals on all Spanish tasks. Errors for both bilinguals and monolinguals on Spanish sentence tasks took the form of omissions. Results indicate that Spanish competency on tasks like these does not "handicap" similar competencies in English for bilingual children at these age levels. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Isolation effects, free recall, and organization.

Studied the influence of isolated words upon free recall and clustering of categorized lists. For Exp. I with 104 undergraduates, the list contained 10 words from each of 4 conceptual categories and the category names, and for Exp. II with 96 Ss, 11 members of 4 categories and no names. Category members were presented in blocked or random order for 4 presentation-recall periods. Isolation effects occurred for random presentation with either category names or members as isolates. The superior recall of isolates was at the expense of other words in the list. Clustering of the categories with an isolate or for the over-all list was not affected by isolates, indicating that they did not influence the organization of the lists. Recall and clustering with block presentation were superior to random presentation. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assessing the classroom potential of the keyword method.

The keyword method of foreign language vocabulary learning has proven effective when implemented in highly structured laboratory-like settings. In contrast, the results of a recent study by E. J. Fuentes (1976) suggest that when the method is implemented in an actual classroom context, its effectiveness may be diminished. Several explanations for this diminution are offered and explored in the 6 experiments reported here. Four experiments involved high school students in 1st- and 2nd-yr Spanish courses and 2 involved 5th graders with no Spanish knowledge. The latter 2 experiments succeeded in producing keyword effects when the method was administered to either small or classroom-sized groups. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of mediators in memory retrieval as a function of practice: Controlled mediation to direct access.

The role of prior knowledge in retrieval of Spanish-English vocabulary pairs learned using keyword mediators was examined in 4 experiments. Retrieval was tested immediately after learning and after 1-week and 1-month no-practice intervals (Experiment 1), after moderate retrieval practice (Experiment 2), and after extended retrieval practice (Experiments 3 and 4). Using accuracy, latency, and verbal report data, a detailed account of memory retrieval processes was developed. Initial retrieval is an explicit mediation process that involves retrieving keyword mediators into working memory and using them as retrieval cues to access the English equivalents of the Spanish words. After extended vocabulary retrieval practice, this sequential mediation process qualitatively changed to a direct retrieval process in which the English equivalent was accessed in a single working memory step. However, direct retrieval was still influenced by a covert mediation process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Specific associative unlearning in the AB-CD paradigm.

Since previous experiments have yielded conflicting results as to whether or not specific associative unlearning occurs in the different stimuli-different responses (AB-CD) paradigm, 2 experiments were directed at this problem. In Exp. I, with 96 undergraduates who were naive to verbal learning experiments, the response-form class of AB-CD lists was varied; no evidence of associative unlearning was found in any condition. In Exp. II, with 100 Ss, significant unlearning was found with similar and identical stimuli in both lists, but not when nonsense syllables and numbers were used as stimuli in successive lists, or when minimally related nonsense syllables were used as stimulus terms in the 2 lists. J. B. McGovern's (see record 2011-18733-001) analysis of unlearning was supported. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of order information in free recall: Application to the word-frequency effect.

According to an order-encoding account of free recall, the free recall of unrelated words is organized according to their order of presentation in the study list, with unusual items attracting more attentional resources to item encoding than usual items, but at the expense of order encoding. This account correctly predicted (a) better free recall and serial-order memory for high-frequency (HF) than low-frequency (LF) words in pure lists and (b) equivalent serial-order memory for HF and LF words but superior recall of LF words in mixed lists. The mixed-list recall results and the finding that overall list recall did not depend on the proportion of HF words comprising a list are inconsistent with G. Gillund and R. M. Shiffrin's (see record 1984-08340-001) search of associative memory (SAM) explanation. The order-encoding account of the differential effects of other variables (e.g., generation and bizarreness) on free recall in pure versus mixed lists is also discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Are keyword method effects limited to slow presentation rates? An empirically based reply to Hall and Fuson (1986).

Hall and Fuson (1986) argued that experiments on keyword mnemonics have been biased against no-strategy control subjects because slow presentation rates have been used in these previous investigations. In the experiment reported here, university students benefited from keyword-method use relative to no-strategy control subjects, regardless of the rate of vocabulary presentation (three presentations for 3 {s} apiece or one presentation for 9 {s}). This result is inconsistent with Hall and Fuson's arguments (a) that university students who receive brief training cannot execute the keyword method when vocabulary presentation is rapid and (b) that several fast presentations of vocabulary under control instructions produce better learning than the keyword method. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mnemonic versus nonmnemonic vocabulary-learning strategies: Additional comparisons.

The keyword method of vocabulary learning was compared with 5 methods designed to increase semantic processing of the definitions of the vocabulary words. In Exps I–III with 254 undergraduates, recall of the definitions from the vocabulary words was the critical dependent measure, with the keyword method producing greater learning than in any of the semantic-based or control conditions. None of the semantic-based conditions facilitated definition recall relative to a no-strategy control condition. In Exps IV and V with 144 Ss, the keyword method, 2 semantic strategies, and the no-strategy control procedure were compared with respect to associative and response-learning components of vocabulary learning. The keyword method enhanced vocabulary/definition (associative) learning but not definition (response) learning per se. In contrast, the semantic conditions tended to increase nonassociative learning of the definitions. Results bolster the case that the keyword method is a vocabulary-learning procedure superior to semantic-based strategies advocated by reading theorists. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Growth in literacy and cognition in bilingual children at risk or not at risk for reading disabilities.

This study investigated growth in reading, vocabulary, and memory in children (ages 5 to 10) learning English as a second language identified at risk for reading disabilities (RD). A growth curve analysis showed that RD children were significantly below children not at risk in English and Spanish reading, Spanish short-term memory (STM), Spanish comprehension, and English and Spanish working memory (WM). RD children were also inferior on growth measures of English and Spanish WM and Spanish STM. Growth on measures of Spanish vocabulary, reading, STM, and WM accounted for 12% of the variance in predicting growth in English reading. However, only Spanish measures of WM growth contributed unique variance. The results show that growth in WM in the primary language predicts growth in second-language reading. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Associative strength as a mode of organization in recall and recognition: A comparison of schizophrenics and normals.

In 2 experiments, word pairs of high and low intrapair association were presented to a total of 40 schizophrenic and 40 normal adults. In Exp I, 1 member of each pair in both recall and recognition tasks was also displayed as a cue at the time of response. The number of words correctly recalled and recognized by both schizophrenics and normals was markedly greater for high-association lists. On high-association lists, schizophrenic performance was inferior to that of normals. The same lists were used in Exp II, which required the recognition of both words in each pair. Normal recognition was superior only for high-association lists. Results are interpreted as supporting the view that because schizophrenics did not subjectively organize or encode information when presented, subsequent retrieval was deficient. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)