Transcript Document

Stages of
Learning
To learn a paired-associate list, 3 tasks must be
accomplished:
1. Stimulus Discrimination: There must be
something distinctive about each stimulus item
so that the right one can be selected and
associated with the response item.
For example, when learning word recognition
skills through the phonics approach, children
are required to associate one sound with the
letter b and another with the letter d. They
are more likely to confuse these two letters
than the letters b and h.
Stages of
Learning
To learn a paired-associate list, 3 tasks must be
accomplished:
2. Response Learning: When the stimulus is
presented, we usually have to pronounce the
response. This is easier to do if the response
items are familiar words than if they are foreign
words or nonsense syllables.
For example, the German word for “train
station” is bahnhof. It would be easier to get
bahnhof as the stimulus and respond with train
station than get train station as the stimulus
and respond with bahnhof.
Stages of
Learning
To learn a paired-associate list, 3 tasks must be
accomplished:
3. S-R Association: Connecting the stimulus
to the response is faster if the two items are
conceptually related or if we can think of a
meaningful relationship. The process of
thinking of words or images to connect two
items is called mediation. It’s a form of
“elaborative rehearsal”.
For example, it would be easier to associate the
nonsense syllable BOK with the word GIFT if
BOK prompted us to think of BOX, which could
then act as a mediator and remind us of GIFT.
Stages of
Learning
A general principle of verbal learning is that items
that are high in meaningfulness are learned faster
than items that are low in meaningfulness.
Paired-associate lists allow us to analyze the
reasons why meaningfulness facilitates learning.
In one study, subjects were divided into 4 groups
according to the types of items they received as
stimulus and response items. An item could be
either a word (high meaningfulness) or nonsense
syllable (low meaningfulness).
Stages of
Learning
Group
Stimulus Items
Response Items
L–L
Nonsense Syllables
Nonsense Syllables
H–H
Words
Words
L–H
Nonsense Syllables
H–L
Words
Words
Nonsense Syllables
There were 10 pairs of items in each list. Subjects
received 12 practice trials. The researcher looked
at the percentage of items correct across trials.
Percent Correct Responses
Stages of
Learning
100
50
L–L
0
1
Trials
12
Group L – L showed slow progress across trials.
Percent Correct Responses
Stages of
Learning
H-H
100
50
L–L
0
1
Trials
Group H – H showed much faster progress.
12
Percent Correct Responses
Stages of
Learning
H-H
100
L–H
50
L–L
0
1
Trials
12
Group L – H learned almost as fast as Group H – H.
This was the the result of faster response learning
than in Group L – L. The words also produced
mediators to help with S – R associating.
Percent Correct Responses
Stages of
Learning
H-H
100
L–H
H-L
50
L–L
0
1
Trials
12
Group H – L learned a little more slowly than Group
L – H. It was more important to have words to help
with response learning than with stimulus
discrimination. H – L’s words also helped mediation.
Mnemonics
Keyword Mnemonic
Developed by Atkinson and Raugh (1975), this is
a highly effective method for memorizing foreign
language vocabulary.
Typically, the stimulus item is a foreign word and
the response item is an English word.
To connect the stimulus to the response you go
through a 2-step mediational process.
STIMULUS  Mediator1  Mediator2  RESPONSE
Mnemonics
Keyword Mnemonic
Stimulus: “bahnhof”
(“train station” in German)
MEDIATOR 1: KEYWORD
Think of a word or words that sounds
like bahnhof and refers to an object
that you can visualize:
“barn hops”
Mnemonics
Keyword Mnemonic
MEDIATOR 2: MENTAL PICTURE
Create a mental picture that combines “barn hops”
with an image representing a “train station”:
Mnemonics
Keyword Mnemonic
STIMULUS  Mediator1  Mediator2  RESPONSE
The next time you see the word bahnhof, you’ll
remember “barn hops” because of the similarity
in sound. That prompts you to visualize a barn
hopping, and you’ll see it in the context of the
picture you created—going down the tracks of the
Amtrak station. This picture will remind you to
say, “train station.”
Mnemonics
Face-Name Mnemonic
FACE  Mediator2  Mediator1  NAME
Developed by author and stage performer, Harry
Lorayne, the face-name mnemonic has been
shown in experiments to be effective for
remembering people’s names when you see their
faces. It’s similar to the keyword mnemonic
except that when you use the mediators to recall
the name, the mental picture will come before the
keyword-name association.
Mnemonics
Face-Name Mnemonic
Stimulus: face
First, pick out one distinctive feature of the face.
For practice, see Lorayne’s book, “Remembering
People”.
MEDIATOR 1: SUBSTITUTE WORD
Think of a word or words that sounds
like the person’s name and refers to
an object that you can visualize.
Mnemonics
Keyword Mnemonic
MEDIATOR 2: MENTAL PICTURE
Create a mental picture that combines
the facial feature you selected with
the object referred to by the name.
Mnemonics
Face-Name Mnemonic
Mediator1
Mediator2
Garrett =
Carrot
Ms. Garrett
Distinctive feature:
big ears
Next time you see Ms.
Garrett, you will notice her
big ears. Then you will “see”
the carrots hanging from her
ears. The carrots will remind
you to say Garrett.