Stimulus exposure time as a factor in serial learning in an aged sample.

Stimulus exposure and learning in old (O) and young (Y) Ss was investigated. Lists of 8 words equated for size, association value, and structure were used in a serial rote learning task with a 1-sec. interword interval and a 45-sec. intertrial interval. 3 groups of Y (M = 37.3 yr.) and O (M = 66.5 yr.) men received exposure times of 4, 6, or 8 sec., comprising a 3 X 2 A of V design (N = 81). WAIS Vocabulary scores served as a control. Conclusions are: (a) Y Ss learned better than O (p     

Time allocated and time spent relative to time needed for learning as determinants of achievement.

171 Ss in Grades 4 and 5 who read at grade level were given 3 task presentations, each of which yielded a trials score (trials needed, trials spent, trials allocated) as well as a retention score. In addition to these scores, degree of learning or achievement scores were obtained. Degree of learning was the level of accuracy attained by the last learning trial of each task presentation. Achievement was set for 100% for the time-needed presentation; 91% of Ss reached this criterion. Degree of learning under the time-spent and time-allocated presentations varied from 30 to 100%. The trials-spent:trials-needed ratio scores were calculated for each S. Results show that spending and/or allocating insufficient learning time had a direct negative effect on achievement. Both degree of initial learning and 1-wk retention dropped significantly when Ss spent or were given fewer trials than needed to learn the experimental task. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An investigation of unilateral cerebral pathology with equated verbal and visual-spatial tasks.

Ss with left cerebral damage perform significantly different on certain tasks so as to be distinguishable from Ss with right cerebral damage. In this instance, verbal and visual-spatial paired associations were learned. The results indicated that control Ss (no known cerebral damage) showed no difference on either task, but patients with right cerebral damage (R) did significantly poorer on visual-spatial learning than verbal learning; patients with left cerebral damage (L) did just the reverse. Percent of accuracy of diagnosis of Rs as R, and Ls as L was marred by the factor of age. Measures of perseveration were less clearcut than error scores. From Psyc Abstracts 36:04:4JG82S. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Learning and retention of words of sexual and nonsexual meaning.

Two hypotheses were tested: associates to sexual words will be learned and retained less efficiently than associates to neutral or unpleasant words, and anxious Ss will show a greater relative difficulty in learning and retention of associates to sexual words as compared with associates to neutral and unpleasant words than will normal Ss. Neither hypothesis was confirmed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adult age differences in short-term memory and subsequent long-term memory for actions.

Short-term memory for actions was investigated for young adult and elderly adult Ss with the Brown-Peterson procedure at retention intervals of 0 and 15 sec. The short-term memory trials were followed by the long-term recall of the prior to-be-remembered actions. The 15-sec retention interval was filled either with no activity or with 1 of 3 different interfering activities. Verbal interference had little effect on short-term memory at either age level. Actions performed in the interval either by the Ss or by the experimenter produced significantly lower recall scores at each age level, with the decrement being more pronounced for the elderly than for the young Ss. The long-term memory results indicated that successful short-term recall enhanced later long-term recall, regardless of age level. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Learning, prediction, and readability.

One group of Ss, after memorization practice, learned as much as they could in set study periods (recording recall immediately at period end). Another group predicted each successive word from a knowledge of preceding context, for 30 English passages. Recall and prediction scores were correlated with Flesch and Dale-Chall readability scores. all the correlations were positive and high. Both readability formulas showed a higher correlation with learning than with prediction, but the difference was not significant. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Oral discussion, group-to-individual transfer, and achievement in cooperative learning groups.

75 2nd graders were randomly assigned to cooperative learning groups in which oral discussion was structured or unstructured or to an individualistic learning group so that daily achievement, postinstructional achievement, and retention could be compared. Groups were stratified for sex and ability level. Results show that Ss in cooperative groups performed significantly higher on the accuracy of daily work than did Ss working individually. In addition, the high-, medium-, and low-ability Ss in the structured oral discussion cooperative condition scored higher on the postinstructional and retention tests than did Ss in the other 2 conditions. Ss in the unstructured oral discussion cooperative condition scored higher on these tests than did Ss who learned individually. Findings suggest that group-to-individual transfer takes place within cooperative learning groups and that orally summarizing the material being learned and the monitoring of others' summaries contribute to the efficacy of cooperative learning. (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Recall in normals and subnormals of like mental age.

Normal children and young adult imbeciles were matched for mental age and were given sets of 6 pairs of words to learn by association. The words were recorded on tape, and presented to subgroups at a sound intensity of 90 db. or 55 db. Each subgroup was further subdivided—? the Ss being given 10 and ? given 20 repetitions. 1 minute, 2 days, and 1 month later they heard the stimulus word of each pair and were asked to give the appropriate response word. It was shown that there was no difference in learning or memory scores between normals and imbeciles. Frequency of presentation affected immediate recall scores of both groups, with intensity level contributing to a lesser degree. Memory over longer time intervals was determined by the amount initially learned, rather than by the conditions under which such learning had occurred. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Serial learning and conditioning under real-life stress.

54 Ss learned a list of nonsense syllables prior to experiencing a "real-life" anxiety arousing situation. The stress situations were doctoral examinations, giving an oral report, and appearing in a dramatic production. An equivalent list was learned under conditions regarded as emotionally neutral. The palmarsweat index (PSI) was recorded under each condition. In addition, the GSR was conditioned to a light (CS), with an electric shock as US, in each condition. The Taylor scale was given to all Ss. The results indicated that stress interfered with serial learning but facilitated conditioning. The greater the interference, the greater the PSI. Taylor scores were significantly related to none of the performance measures or to the PSI. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Long-term retention of skilled visual search: Do young adults retain more than old adults?

Young and old Ss received extensive consistent-mapping visual search practice (3,000 trials). The Ss returned to the laboratory following a 1 6-mo retention interval. Retention of skilled visual search was assessed using the trained stimuli (assessment of retention of stimulus-specific learning) and using new stimuli (assessment of retention of task-specific learning). All Ss, regardless of age group, demonstrated impressive retention. However, age-related retention differences favoring the young were observed when retention of stimulus-specific learning was assessed. No age-related retention differences were observed when task-specific learning was assessed. The data suggest that age-related retention capabilities depend on the type of learning assessed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of success and failure on the discrimination learning of normal and retarded children.

30 normal and 30 retarded children learned a 3-choice size discrimination following exposure to experimental tasks under conditions of success, failure, or neutrality. Both normal and retarded children learned more quickly following success and failure than under the neutral condition. In a 2nd study, 32 normal and 32 retarded children learned the same criterion task under success or failure conditions. Here, both success and failure again facilitated the performance of both normal and retarded Ss. Also, social responsivity interacted with intelligence and exeprimental conditions in influencing the children's learning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interaction between memories in the rat: Effect of degree of prior conflicting learning on forgetting after short intervals.

Gave 132 female Sprague-Dawley albino rats 0, 1, criterion, or criterion + 10 trials of passive-avoidance training. Ss were then given active-avoidance training and were tested for retention 3 min., 60 min., or 24 hr. later. Forgetting of active-avoidance learning after 1 or 24 hr. was increased among Ss given prior training on passive avoidance. The magnitude of this lapse in retention was greater among Ss given more prior opportunities to practice passive avoidance. However, retention after 3 min. was unaffected by prior training. Characteristics of memory retrieval may account for these results. (21 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Developmental and sociocultural aspects of imagery in the picture-word paired-associate learning of children.

Taught 128 middle-class Anglo-Americans and 128 lower socioeconomic Spanish-American children paired-associate lists in which pictures and orally presented words were learned as combinations of picture-picture, picture-word, word-picture, and word-word. Half of the Ss were placed in a recall test during learning trials and half in a recognition condition. One wk after original learning, the Ss were retested. Pictures in the stimulus position greatly facilitated learning, whereas pictures in the response term produced negative effects, but only in the recall condition. Pictures produced better long-term retention in both stimulus and response positions than did words. No significant differences between sociocultural groups in overall paired-associate performance appeared, but long-term retention was significantly better for Anglo Ss. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Verbal learning in children.

The major purpose of the review was to examine the validity of the assumption that the laws of verbal learning obtained on the college student will hold reasonably well for younger populations of Ss. Various areas of verbal learning, such as free learning, paired-associate learning, serial learning, transfer, retention, and retroactive-proactive inhibition, were reviewed in order to determine the extent to which the general findings of these areas, based on experiments in which the college student had served as S, have been investigated and replicated with children as Ss. The literature on children's verbal learning revealed a reasonable correspondence in the effective variables reported and in the relationships that have been identified with adult Ss. (64 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An empirical investigation of individual differences in time to learn.

Studied the magnitude and stability of individual differences in the amount of time required to achieve a criterion level of performance (time-to-criterion). Time-to-criterion was defined by (a) the amount of elapsed time and (b) the amount of on-task time required to attain the criterion. 90 8th graders were randomly assigned either to a mastery learning class in which all Ss were helped to attain an 85% mastery standard or to 1 of 2 nonmastery classes. Ss learned a 3-unit sequence of programmed material in matrix arithmetic. Results from the 82 Ss who completed the study indicate that time-to-criterion (defined in both manners) was an alterable human characteristic. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Extinction of conservation: A life span investigation.

Tested 8 groups (180 Ss) on measures of continuous and discontinuous quantity conservation. The 8 groups were trained and untrained Grade 2 conservers and Grade 5, Grade 7, young adult, middle-age adult, elderly, and institutionalized elderly Ss. All Ss who reached criterion on quantitative invariance judgments were then tested for resistance to conservation of quantity extinction. Both resistance judgments and explanations were found to develop in a curvilinear fashion, increasing with age until young adulthood and declining thereafter. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Recognition memory, sleep and circadian rhythms.

Examined the effects of sleep on memory. In Exp 1, 43 Ss learned a list of words and were tested for recognition 24 hrs later. For the delayed sleep group, learning was followed by a period of wakefulness; for the immediate sleep group, it was followed by a period of sleep. Retention was significantly better for the immediate sleep group. In Exp 2, 69 Ss were tested approximately 8 hrs after learning. The normal waking group learned and was tested after a period of daytime wakefulness; the normal sleep group learned and was tested after a period of nighttime sleep; and the sleep deprivation group learned and was tested after a period of nighttime wakefulness. In agreement with previous work (e.g., J. G. Jenkins and K. M. Dallenbach, 1924), retention for the normal sleep group was superior to that of the normal waking group; however, retention was not better for the normal sleep group than for the sleep deprivation group. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Further studies of the striate and extrastriate visual cortex in the tree shrew.

Trained 9 tree shrews (3 normal, 3 with striate cortex lesions, and 3 with temporal cortex lesions) to choose between 2 stimuli on the basis of orientation of stripes. The stimuli also differed in hue. When Ss reached criterion, hue became the relevant dimension, and shifts between orientation and hue continued. Normal Ss learned the original task and showed evidence of a learning set. Ss with temporal lesions were retarded in initial learning and reverted to chance level with each shift. Ss with striate lesions failed to master the initial problem. The temporal group was also impaired on daily intradimensional reversals. Results are interpreted as evidence for complementary functions of the 2 areas. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The cognitive structure of a social structure.

"A paired-associate learning experiment was performed in which men's names were the stimuli and the labels freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior were the responses… . Ss learned most rapidly to apply the labels freshman and senior correctly, a result that was interpreted as end-anchoring. The errors… Ss made during learning were patterned in such a way as to demonstrate generalization gradients for each label. On the supposition that the frequency of confusions of labels was inversely related to the psychological distance between them, it was determined that psychologically the labels fell on a single dimension, and that the distance from freshman to sophomore was largest… from sophomore to junior, shortest… from junior to senior of intermediate size." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)