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.
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