Clyde E. Noble

The Montana Scale of Meaningfulness (M)

A decade has passed since the data were first collected for the measurement of meaningfulness by the association frequency criterion. In 1950 Noble had 131 male recruits at Lackland Air Force Base respond to 96 dissyllabic nouns and paralogs (artificial words) by writing, via the method of continued association, all the words each stimulus brought to mind within 60 sec. After evaluating the protocols in terms of three pre-experimental rejection criteria, the records of 12 Ss were discarded, bringing the effective sample to 119 cases. Basing his empirical operations upon a rational analysis of the meaning relation as a hypothetical S-R connection, Noble defined meaningfulness ( m ) as the average number of continued associations2 per unit time. Mean m values for this sample were published in 1952 (Noble, 1952) and median m values in 1958 (Noble, 1958). Scale reliability, computed by the intergroup method on mean scores and adjusted for sample size (Noble, 1955), was found to be .993 (Noble & McNeely, 1957). Since 1952 a number of investigators have employed the m scale, or a variant of it for CVCs,3 in studies of verbal behavior (e.g., Mandler, 1955; Noble, Stockwell, & Pryer, 1957; Umemoto, Morikawa, & Ibuki, 1955). During the eight years from 1952 to date, 38 articles in which m was either an experimental or a control variable have appeared in eight major journals. In view of the apparent usefulness to research workers of the associationfrequency definition of meaningfulness ( m ) , it was thought desirable to restandardize the m scale and to engage college students for the task. While it was possible that significant cultural changes might have taken place during the intervening ten years, the major reason for the present study was to provide representative norms for research in this laboratory. Psychologists elsewhere may also find the current measurements more valid than the previous ones. Given the high reliability of the original m scale, recently confirmed in the Pittsburgh laboratory (Rocklyn, Hessert, & Braun, 1957), an N of 100 was considered both adequate and convenient for the present purpose.

Acquisition and extinction phenomena in human trial-and-error learning under different schedules of reinforcing feedback.

The present program of research on non-verbal selective learning (Noble, 1957a) considers reinforcement ( G ) factors as a major class of experimental variables in human learning and performance. This paper describes an investigation designed to obtain quantitative information about the role of reinforcing feedback schedules in four-choice serial trial-and-error learning by human Ss who performed on the Selective Mathometer. Two widely-accepted generalizations about the effects of partial reinforcement in simple learning situations are ( 1 ) that acquisition rates are faster the higher [he relative frequency of reinforcement and ( 2 ) that resistance to extinction is greater the lower the relative frequency of reinforcement during original learning (Jenkins & Stanley, 1950; Lewis, 1960). Since these two principles are complicated by interactions with task factors, amount of practice, and species differences (Spence, 1960, pp. 91-112), it is necessary to test them under the specific boundary conditions of this research program where human Ss are engaged in complex learning problems for incentives which are not primary. The most comprehensive review of motor-skills learning to date (E. A. Bilodeau & I. McD. Bilodeau, 1961) emphasizes the paucity of our knowledge about frequency schedules in this area.

Serial errors in human learning: a test of the McCrary-Hunter hypothesis.

An experiment was conducted on 120 human subjects to test the hypothesis that the probability distribution of serial errors is an invariant property of rote memorization. Contrary to the hypothesis, the relative difficulty function was significantly affected by ability to learn. There was a systematic tendency (p < .05) for fast learners to commit proportionately more errors in the middle of the sequence.

Performance in complex coordination as a function of response duration

Distinctions between performance on the one hand, and learning, inhibition, and motivation on the other, have been made by a number of theoretical psychologists. Hulls ( 2 ) formulation, for instance, states that the values of empirical response measures ( R ) are primarily determined by the effective reaction tendency ( E ) of the conditioned stimulus pattern. Hypothetically, the quantiry E is a joint function of several intervening variables, among which are generalized drive (D) , habit strength ( H ) , and reactive inhibition (I). For perceptual-motor skill a general equation for difficzllty (4, 5,6 , 7, 8), expressed as the average time for a correct response ( R t ) , would be: