Learning and Retention of Word-pairs with Varying Degrees of Association

Abstract

The main aim of this experiment was to compare the role of degree of meaningfulness with that of frequency of repetition, in the learning and retention of word-pairs. The (student) subjects were divided into three groups. The first group learned 25 word-pairs whose members were frequently and highly meaningfully associated with each other. The second group learned 25 word-pairs which were associated far less frequently and meaningfully whilst those of the third group were as lacking in associative value as possible. The stimulus-words were ambiguous; they were identical for each of the three groups; the word-pairs were presented, in randomized order, repeatedly, during the learning stage until the subject achieved the criterion of 20 (or more) correct word-pairs. After an interval of 60-90 days, the subjects were retested for retention.

The results indicated that degree of meaningfulness plays a greater role than does frequency of repetition, both in learning and in recall; that the role of repetition tends to increase, however, as the meaningfulness of the material decreases; and that individual differences in method of learning increase with the difficulty of the material to be learned.