Verbal Learning

1. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z foh jur bok taw xiz guj vol raq kec mey hib qez Verbal Learning ...the acquisition and retention of verbal information In everyday terms, it’s like “memorization”. Two Basic Tasks Serial Learning: learning to reproduce the items in a list in their original order (for example, learning the letters of the alphabet). Paired-Associate Learning: learning to make a verbal response when a specific stimulus is presented (for example, learning foreign language vocabulary: stimulus = foreign word, response = English word).

2. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z foh jur bok taw xiz guj vol raq kec mey hib qez Verbal Learning Serial or Paired-Associate Learning? Hi, my name’s Kelly. Next time you see her, will you remember her name? This is ____________ Learning. Paired-Associate Stimulus = face Response = name

3. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z foh jur bok taw xiz guj vol raq kec mey hib qez Verbal Learning Serial or Paired-Associate Learning? Boys and girls, who knows what sound goes with these letters? Ch Learning Word Recognition Skills: Phonics (“Sounding the Word Out”) This is ____________ Learning. Paired-Associate Stimulus = letters Response = sound

4. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z foh jur bok taw xiz guj vol raq kec mey hib qez Verbal Learning Serial or Paired-Associate Learning? Who can spell the word, “necessary”? n e s s a c a r y ? Learning to Spell This is ____________ Learning. Serial The letters of a word are like items in a list.

5. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z foh jur bok taw xiz guj vol raq kec mey hib qez Verbal Learning Hermann Ebbinghaus His book, On Memory (1885), showed how experimental methods could be used to measure the learning and retention of verbal items arranged in lists. His methods applied the theory of learning developed by “empiricist” philosophers, who said we acquire knowledge by associating (connecting) things that repeatedly occur closely together in time.

6. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z foh jur bok taw xiz guj vol raq kec mey hib qez Verbal Learning Ebbinghaus rigorously controlled the timing, the order of presentation, and number of practice trials, all key factors in learning according to associative theory. Amazingly, he served as his own subject! But his findings have been repeated countless times in conventional experiments. Rather than memorize poems, speeches, or other writings, he created lists of artificial verbal units called “nonsense syllables” like the ones on the left. Each consisted of a consonant, then a vowel, then a consonant.

7. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z foh jur bok taw xiz guj vol raq kec mey hib qez Verbal Learning He assumed he would be equally unfamiliar with each nonsense syllable at the beginning of practice. One list would be like any other. This was a form of experimental control. We now know that his assumption was wrong. Nonsense syllables, like words, have degrees of meaning. Researchers measure the “meaningfulness” of an item in terms of how readily it reminds you of a word, like how many words you can think of in 10 seconds. The more meaningful items are, the faster they’re learned and the longer they’re remembered.

8. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z foh jur bok taw xiz guj vol raq kec mey hib qez Verbal Learning Ebbinghaus directed his attention to one nonsense syllable at a time, going from one item to the next according to a time schedule. It’s hard to do. Researchers working in the Ebbinghaus tradition developed methods that showed subjects only one item at a time so they could control the order and timing of presentation.

9. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z foh jur bok taw xiz guj vol raq kec mey hib qez Verbal Learning Serial Learning Anticipation Procedure The first item the subject sees is an arbitrary symbol, like *, then they see one item at a time for a certain number of seconds... foh jur bok *

10. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z foh jur bok taw xiz guj vol raq kec mey hib qez Verbal Learning Serial Learning Anticipation Procedure From Trial 2 on, when subjects see a certain item, they try to say the item that comes right after it; they “anticipate” the next item. Subject says... fohjur jurbok * foh

11. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z foh jur bok taw xiz guj vol raq kec mey hib qez Verbal Learning Serial Learning Anticipation Procedure Each item that appears provides feedback on the previous response and acts as a cue for saying the next response. Subject says... bok taw

12. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z foh jur bok taw xiz guj vol raq kec mey hib qez Verbal Learning Serial Learning Complete-List Procedure Cognitive researchers favor a procedure in which subjects receive the complete list during a studytrial. They can look at any items in any order for as long as they want. Nonsense! Right after the study trial there’s a test trial where the subject tries to recite or write all the items in their original order. They get no feedback until the next study trrial.

13. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z foh jur bok taw xiz guj vol raq kec mey hib qez Verbal Learning Paired-Associate Learning Anticipation Procedure Each pair of items is presented in a 2-step procedure. In the first step, the stimulus is presented alone, and and the subject tries to state the response that goes with it. In the second step, the stimulus and response items appear together. This gives the subject feedback and another opportunity to learn the association.

14. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z foh jur bok taw xiz guj vol raq kec mey hib qez Verbal Learning Paired-Associate Learning Anticipation Procedure Stimulus Response bok bok taw foh foh jur

15. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z foh jur bok taw xiz guj vol raq kec mey hib qez Verbal Learning Paired-Associate Learning Study-Test Procedure There are two kinds of trials. On a studytrial, the subject sees each complete pair of items. Then there is a testtrial in which the subject is presented the first item of each pair and is asked to state the item that goes with it. Study Trial foh - jur bok - taw Test Trial foh - bok -

16. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z foh jur bok taw xiz guj vol raq kec mey hib qez Verbal Learning Free Recall This procedure resembles serial learning. You are given a list of words and immediately afterwards you try to recall them. But it can be in any order. It doesn’t have to be the original order like in serial learning. It’s like remembering a shopping list: cereal, apples, milk, bread, cookies. When you get to the store, it doesn’t matter what order you remember them in as long as you remember them all.

17. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z foh jur bok taw xiz guj vol raq kec mey hib qez Verbal Learning Measuring Learning (Acquisition) Ebbinghaus counted the number of study trials he needed to reach a criterion of mastery: one recitation of the list without an error. The more trials it took to learn a list, the slower would be the rate of learning.

18. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z foh jur bok taw xiz guj vol raq kec mey hib qez Verbal Learning Measuring Memory (Retention) Ebbinghaus developed a measure called the savings score. After learning a list, he would wait a period of time (the retention interval) and see if he could recite the list without an error. If he missed anything, he would practice the list until he met the criterion again (relearning). He then compared the number of trials to learn the list with the number of trials to relearn it, using the following formula:

19. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z foh jur bok taw xiz guj vol raq kec mey hib qez Verbal Learning Measuring Memory (Retention) Savings Score Number of Trials to Learn – Number of Trials to Relearn X 100 Number of Trials to Learn (Multiplying by 100 makes the score a per cent.) For example, suppose it took Ebbinghaus 12 trials to learn a list. Then, 24 hours later it took him 4 trials to relearn it. The savings score would be _____ ?

20. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z foh jur bok taw xiz guj vol raq kec mey hib qez Verbal Learning Measuring Memory (Retention) Savings Score 12 – 4 X 100 12 = 67% This means that 67% of the original information was retained during the interval between learning and testing.