No abstract

Comparative or absolute judgments of word-presentation frequency were studied in two experiments involving proactive-interference

The influence of the environmental context upon serial learning was investigated in a PI design in Experiment 1 and an RI design in Experiment 2. Either one or four lists learned either before or after the critical list were used to manipulate PI or RI, respectively. Learning the critical list in the same room as the interference-inducing lists or in a different room provided the first context manipulation. The second context factor involved relearning the critical list in the same room as it was learned 24 hours earlier, or in a different one. In the PI study the early and middle thirds of the list were affected by context in original learning. In relearning, correct responses over the first two trials differed both as a function of number of prior lists learned and of original learning context. With RI, fewer trials to relearn were required by a condition involving facilitating context manipulations, relative to a neutral context, and a competing context condition was inferior. The results are largely consistent with predictions derived from the interference theory of forgetting and traditional associative learning theory.

The goal of this study was to determine whether differential response formats to covariation problems influence corresponding response latencies. The authors provided participants with 3 trials of 16 statements addressing positive and negative relations between freedom and responsibility. The authors framed half of the items around responsibility given freedom and the other half around freedom given responsibility. Response formats comprised true-false, agree-disagree, and yes-no answers as a between-participants factor. Results indicated that the manipulation of response format did not affect latencies. However, latencies differed according to the framing of the items. For items framed around freedom given responsibility, latencies were shorter. In addition, participants were more likely to report a positive relation between freedom and responsibility when items were framed around freedom given responsibility. The authors discuss implications relative to previous research in this area and give recommendations for future research.