One experiment revealed that under some conditions, A-B learning is facilitated when 5s choose responses to be learned on a subsequent A-B list. There is also some evidence that Ss who choose their A-B responses and are subsequently forced to learn a competing set of material (A-C) show a relatively greater disruption of learning than 5s who did not have the opportunity to choose either A-B or A-C. All of these effects require that when 5s choose their responses, this choosing occurs in the presence of their respective stimuli. Simply choosing responses in the absence of the stimuli produces performance which is not different from that resulting when 5s are denied the opportunity to choose their responses.

The effect of giving 5s the opportunity to choose the response materials they wish to learn in a paired-associate task was examined with a paradigm which manipulated the amount of choice allowed during the selection procedure and the locus or point at which choice took place. It was found that locus of choice is an extremely powerful variable and that if properly manipulated, choosing only three responses in a 12-item list elevates performance to a level near that of a 12-item list in which all responses are chosen. Motivational mechanisms were postulated to account for these findings. An alternative "tagging" hypothesis was found to be untenable.Allowing 5s to exercise choice over the materials to be learned has been a relatively neglected area of investigation. By the use of a technique developed by Perlmuter, Monty, and Kimble (1971), it has been shown that if a group of 5s is permitted to choose the responses to be learned in a subsequent paired-associate (PA) task, performance is enhanced relative to the performance of a group of 5s who are similarly exposed to all of the alternative responses and are forced to learn the PA items chosen by their yoked (choice) partners. To account for these results the authors suggested that the opportunity to exercise choice results in heightened motivation, thereby facilitating performance. To further examine this possibility, Monty and Perlmuter (1972) permitted 5s to choose 5 out of 10 of the PA items and forced them to learn the remaining 5 items. With this procedure it was found that the differential effect of choice was not observed. However, examination of

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