Learning and retention of verbal materials were compared in high school students under perform (guessing with feedback) or observe (watching the performer) conditions. The correct response was randomly determined, or the shortest word, or the word that made a short message when linked to contiguous correct words. In acquisition, subjects did better when performing, females did better than males, and the shortest word group did better than the other groups. There was a variety of interactions in the retention tests, for example, that between scoring (observing subjects either scored their paired performers' responses as right or wrong or simply observed their paired performers) and trials. A transitory inhibitory effect could be attributed to the scoring operation, thus partially confirming a result reported earlier.
A total of 112 high school students from five psychology classes were given a multiplechoice verbal learning task in their regular classroom setting. For the group as a whole, the more often a particular error had been repeated on prior successive trials, the more likely it was to recur. However, only 21 (about one-fifth) of the subjects showed this stubbornerror effect, and male students were primarily responsible for it (13 of 42 males showed the effect, compared with only 8 of 70 females).
RESUL TS AND D1SCUSSION In older to lest statistically for sensitivity. th~ binomial da ta point in the unit square was calculated fm each test stimulus and two 951} confidence bands (one for the proportions 01' hits. the other for the proportions 01' false alarms) were calculated for each data point. These results for the four Ss are shown in Fig. I. 1t can be seen that K. ]. showed significant sensitivity with all test stimuli but that there was a statistically significant increase in sensitivity only between the 5 O• and the 56-mm stimuli. T D. was not reliably sensitive at 50 mm but did show sensitivity at 53 and 56 mm. even though these latter values were not different K. D. demonstrated significant sensitivity only with the 56-mm test stimulus. C. S. exhibited sensitivity minimally at 53 mm, but this broke down at 56 mm for the only inversion of results among the four Ss. The resu It s sh ow considerable individual differences among Ss, but, taken as a whole, it appears that a test stimulus must exceed the standard by more than 6 mm to enable S to reliably report "different." In short, the DL for supraliminal two-point stimuli under the conditiuns of this study is in excess 01' 6 mm. The lack of separation of the two larger stimuli for two Ss. T. D. and C. S., as weil as the reversal of these two stimuli for C. S., raises a question about what happens as the magnitude of stimuli are further increased. Does the size of the DL change as the magnitude of the test stimuli increases? TheJe is also a need to investigate with supraliminal stimuli that are progressively smaller than a standard. In addition, it would be interesting to look at other body areas where the initial two-point threshold is larger or smaller. Would a comoarable DL for such an area reflect the initial difference in the two-point threshold?
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