Richard Dolinsky

THE ANCHOR FOR THE SERIAL POSITION CURVE

Two experiments were carried out to determine the cue used by Ss to anchor the serial position curve in rote learning. Experiment I was designed to evaluate the role of starting position and facilitated (pretrained) syllable in lists that contained no other cues as to beginning or end (closed cycle lists). The results show that the Ss anchor the curve on the starting position. These findings contradict both facilitation and inhibition explanations of the serial position curve. On the basis of facilitation constructs it would be predicted that serial position curve should anchor on a facilitated syllable. On the basis of inhibition constructs it would be predicted that there should be no serial position effect in a closed cycle list. As an alternative to these it is suggested that the S makes a choice of anchor position and that any cue, position or list characteristic may serve as anchor for the curve. From this it follows that E should be able to instruct the S as to the anchor point. In Exp. II the E varied the indication of the beginning of the list by means of verbal instructions. The results show that the anchor point can be manipulated in this manner.

Effects of environmental context changes on memory

The present study examined the effects of environmental context changes on memory. Word lists were presented auditorily to subjects who were in a normal-vision or a restricted-vision context and were recalled immediately after in the same or a different state. A marginally significant memory decrement was found when the environmental context occurring during recall differed from that occurring during learning. Importantly, this memory decrement was not manifested throughout all serial positions in the word lists. Although different-context conditions resulted in significantly poorer memory for “middle” and “recency” items, they actually benefited memory for “primacy” items. The results are discussed in terms of the retrieval strategies used by subjects in the same- and different-context conditions.

Post-integration in the recall of grammatical and ungrammatical word sequences

This experiment investigated the possibility of a post-integration mechanism in recall, i.e., whether later occurring items could organize or influence the recall of prior items. Assuming that the noun (in the final position) is the major organizing element in a noun phrase, it was predicted that prior modifiers would be better recalled if the phrase ended with a noun than if the noun was replaced by an adjective, in one condition, or a preposition or conjunction, in another condition. The over-all results supported the hypothesis. Further, no significant difference was found between the latter two conditions. The results were considered favorable to a post-integration interpretation.

Learning virtually meaningless metaphors under different instructional conditions

It has been proposed that “the distinction between metaphor and simple deviance involves the intention... to be metaphorical” (Matthews, 1971, p. 417). This supposition was tested by comparing sentence recall in metaphors rated very low in meaningfulness with similarly rated nonmetaphors and nonmetaphors rated highly meaningful. Two instructional conditions were evaluated, literary source instructions, which intended to communicate that the sentences made sense, and nonliterary instructions, which did not have this intention. Generally, metaphors were learned as well as meaningful nonmetaphors and both were learned better than meaningless nonmetaphors. It was suggested that the comparison stated in metaphors is adequate to communicate intention regardless of a particular instructional set.

Connotative meaning of sentence subjects as a function of verb and object meaning under different grammatical transformations

Forty-three S s rated CVC sentence subjects, on good-bad and active-passive semantic differential scales. The sentences had good or bad predicate verbs and good or bad object nouns and were presented as active, passive, question, or negative sentences. It was found that for active and passive sentences, the subject CVCs were rated as good when the verb and object had the same evaluative meaning and as bad when they had opposite evaluative meanings. Similar results obtained with the question transformation, though to a lesser degree. The negative transformation reversed the evaluation of the subject CVCs for all verb-object combinations except for bad verbs with bad objects. Subject CVCs were rated as less active in the negative transformation than in the other three transformations, which did not significantly differ among each other. The results were discussed in terms of congruity theory and transformational theory.

ESTIMATING WORD-ASSOCIATION FREQUENCIES

14 Ss were given the 6 strongest associates to stimulus words chosen from the Kent-Rosanoff list and asked to estimate the frequency with which each associate occurred. The results indicate a striking tendency for Ss to match the obtained norms throughout the portions of the hierarchy tested. Ability to match the correct rank of the response was best for primary and secondary associations.

Backward association in serial learning as a function of prior paired-associate training

Young, Milauckas, & Bryan (1963) found mean trials to criterion in serial learning to be faster if a prior paired-associate list was compatible with later serial order than if it was incompatible. The present experiment added a paired-associate list constructed by reversing the members of each pair in the “compatible” group. This “backward” group differed significantly from the “incompatible group,” but was similar to both a “compatible” and an unrelated control group.

Changes in the dominance of word associations following verbal repetition

The present study investigated the changes in association following repetition when, for an individual S, the word originally elicited an associate that was either of high-, medium-, or low-associative dominance in the cultural hierarchy. Twelve words, which initially elicited associates in one of these three categories for a particular S, were visually exposed and verbally repeated by 24 Ss. It was found that, following repetition, there tended to be a regression toward medium-dominance associates although the effect was clear only in the high-dominance category. The results are analagous to those found by Yelen and Schulz (1963) in regard to semantic differential ratings following verbal repetition. Further, when the cultural word-associations norms are imposed on the individual hierarchy, an artifact might occur that explains the results of the present investigation and an earlier one by Smith and Raygor (1956) .