One argument for distinguishing between hard (i.e., low-associate) and easy (i.e., high-associate) paired-associate learning is that hard associates provide a selective measure of episodic memory, whereas easy associates reflect both episodic and semantic memory. This study examined correlations between hard and easy verbal paired associates and episodic and semantic memory in a mixed clinical sample. When age and education were controlled, hard paired associates correlated as much with category fluency (i.e., semantic memory) as they did with immediate recall or retention (i.e., episodic memory). Correlations with hard and easy associates differed more on retention than on immediate recall. Letter fluency was essentially unrelated to either easy or hard associates. The study concludes that hard paired associate learning should not be presumed to selectively measure episodic memory.
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