Abstract
Free association responses to 49 words at two Thorndike-Lorge frequency counts were obtained from young and old Ss. Twenty-six words at the 2–5 frequency count and 23 words at the 20–25 frequency count were administered to 509 young and 95 old Ss. The response pattern of the old group was analyzed in relation to the response primary for the young group. Results were analyzed by relative frequency of the primary response to each stimulus word and by the number of omissions to each word. Older Ss had more omissions and deviated from the younger group in their responses to approximately one-half the stimulus words. Results suggest caution in construction of word lists to study age differences in paired-associate learning and memory.
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