verbal learning

8/3/2019 Verbal Learning

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Chapter 6

Verbal LearningI. GENERAL ISSUES

A. Verbal Learning is typically associated

with the memorization and retention of lists

of words, in order to describe basic

elements of associative learning.

B. Verbal learning tends to involve more

than just the memorization of words.

1. Many stimuli, such as pictures, odors,

locations, etc. can be studied

2. The types of mental events that occur in

verbal learning studies go beyond passive

memorization, as learners can play a very

active role in manipulating experimental

stimuli.

II. THE EBBINGHAUS LEGACY

A. Early work on verbal learning--Herman

Ebbinghaus.


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B. Ebbinghaus served as his own subject,

and his procedure involved the serial

learning of nonsense syllables.1. Ebbinghaus would memorize lists of

these syllables until he could recall them

perfectly, setting different accuracy criteria

for different experiments.

C. Savings-- comparing the number of trials

required to learn a list during an initial

session to the number of trials required

during a second session.

D. Forgetting curve--the amount of

forgetting that occurs immediately after

learning is substantial, but after that initial

drop in performance, memory loss is very

gradual.


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III. SERIAL LEARNING

A. Serial Learning involves having subjects

learn a list of items according to the order

in which the items appear in the list.

B. Serial Position Effect-- lower recall errorrates for the first (primacy effect) and last

few (recency effect) items on the list, with

higher recall error rates for items appearing

in the middle of the list.


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1. Starting and ending points may possesssome type of distinctiveness to set them

apart from the rest of the list.

2. Early and late items may not have to

compete as much for rehearsal resources as

the middle items.3. Middle items have more of a likelihood

of being interfered with from earlier and

later items, while the initial and terminal

items do not have to face as much

interference.


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4. Some have argued that the serial position

effect is due to the working of different

memory systems.IV. PAIRED ASSOCIATE LEARNING

A. Paired Associate (PA) learning involves

having 2 items (a Stimulus and Response

item) paired as stimuli (e.g., BOAT-

CHAIR)

B. When the items pairs are committed to

memory, the presentation of the first word

(the stimulus word) should evoke the

second word (the response word). So

presenting BOAT should elicit a response

of CHAIR.

C. Certain difficulties can arise in PA

learning.

1. If the items used as Stimulus words in aPA task are too similar, discrimination

ability decreases, leading to errors in recall.

2. Learning of Response items--Meaningful

responses are learned easier than non-

meaningful responses.


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3. The connections between individual

stimulus and response items is also

mediated by certain factors.a. Preexisting associations between the

stimulus and response items can either help

or hinder the association process.

b. Cognitive Elaboration can aid in the

association process. The Relationship

Construction Hypothesis suggests that

increasing the number of connections

between items to be remembered can also

aid recall; (e.g., pictorial and verbal

representation of a stimulus is better thaneither of these alone.

c. Associations between stimulus and

response items also tend to move only in

the forward direction

D. An important application of paired-

associate learning involves language

acquisitionin particular, learning foreign

languages.

V. FREE RECALL


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A. Free Recall is very unstructured; one can

recall words in any order theyd like.

B. Although different from serial learning,free recall tasks will also show a serial

position effect similar to that obtained with

serial learning.

C. In addition, recall is mediated by several

factors.

1. The more an item is rehearsed, the

greater the likelihood that the item will be

recalled.

2. Organizing to-be-recalled informationinto some type of meaningful system also

enhances recall ability. Some

organizational heuristics:

a. Associative Clustering involves putting

presented stimuli together in a manner thatutilizes preexisting associations.

b. Categorical Clustering--breaking a large

number of specific words down into several

smaller groups organized by conceptual


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similarity, such as COLORS, ANIMALS,

PLANTS, etc.

c. Subjective Organization involves usingidiosyncratic associations that are relevant

only to individuals.

VI. RELATIONSHIPS AMONG THE

SEVERAL TASKS

A. The evidence that has been collected on the

different verbal learning tasks suggests that

verbal learning is not a single process--many

different strategies result in verbal learning.

B. Research shows that if one wants to obtaina valid representation of ones memory skills,

different tests must be used to tap different

memory abilities.

VII. APPLICATION: MNEMONICS

A. Mnemonic devices are different

methodologies to aid in the encoding and

retrieval of information.

B. Acronym mnemonics--list of initial

letters of critical words that allows one to


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retrieve information (e.g., representing the

Great Lakes as HOMES).

C. Another general class of mnemonics arereferred to as Keyword Mnemonics.

1. The Keyword Method involves a type of

paired-associate learning, where a

mediating word is used to associate two to-

be-remembered items.

2. The Narrative Story Method involves

creating a story that contains all of the

words in a to-be-remembered list.

D. Imagery Mnemonics are another way tolearn critical information.

1. The Method of Loci

2. The Peg Word Method

verbal learning

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