Action, meaning, and stimulus selection in paired-associate learning

Abstract

The task of learning 12 pairs of high-frequency nouns by a study-test method was given to 112 fifth-grade children. In the experimental conditions, the study trial consisted of the presentation of each pair in the context of a three-word sentence wherein the two nouns were connected by a verb. In a three-way design, the variables manipulated were: the amount of overt activity implied by the verbs (action vs. still); the meaningfulness of the sentence (normal vs. anomalous); and the character of the test-trial stimuli (subject nouns vs. verbs vs. subject nouns and verbs). Performance did not vary as a function of the amount of activity implied by the verbs, but normal sentences produced significantly more learning than anomalous ones. Verbs proved inferior to subject nouns as test stimuli, leading to the conclusion that the selection of verbs as functional stimuli during the study trials does not account for the sentential facilitation of noun-pair learning. © 1969 Academic Press Inc. All rights reserved.