Serial verbal learning was investigated as a function of stimulus similarity and the number of responses required to each stimulus. The predicted outcome of an inverse relationship between acquisition rate and similarity was obtained and attributed to interference arising from the requirement of relatively distinct responses and interstimulus generalization of those responses. Both rate and, over the number of trials administered, terminal level of performance were lower with two responses than with one response to each stimulus. Implications of obtained data for the theoretical viewpoint were discussed, along with possible extensions of the analysis to other human learning.
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