168 Ss learned 10 pairs of sententially embedded nouns. The sentences presented the nouns in either a positive interactive, negative interactive or noninteractive context. Ss saw the sentences in either a bizarre or nonbizarre form. Noun-vividness, defined as the presence or absence of a color adjective, was varied as a within-Ss factor. Ss learned significantly more nonbizarre pairs, and the nonbizarre groups significantly outperformed a standard paired-associate control group. There were no effects for the type of interaction or vividness. The results were discussed in terms of encoding difficulty and selective attentional processes during learning.
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