The nature of transfer in free recall.

Abstract

A reevaluation of the data base of the theories of negative transfer leads to two hypotheses: First, transfer in free recall is determined by the degree to which first-list organization is maintained in the transfer list, and second, negative transfer will be produced by the inclusion of nontransferred portions of the original list in memory search. These hypotheses were tested in partto-whole and partial-overlap conditions. Results indicate the crucial importance of the maintenance of organization and the transient nature of the memory-search variable. A theory of performance in multitrial free recall is proposed which accounts for both positive and negative transfer in experiments derived from that paradigm.

General growth model for evaluation of an individual's progress in learning.

“…This correlation coefficient was .986, which shows the relatively high prediction accuracy of the model. Setting values observed by Gorfein and Viviani (1978) in an ascending order agreed closely with the corresponding setting of the predicted values in seven out of their eight experimental conditions, as shown in Table 2. Actually, for selection purposes it does not matter whether Recall Condition 5 is predicted as a preferred condition over Recall Condition 6 or vice versa, since in both…”

“…Equation 1 is also inapplicable to another type of learning curve distinguished by infinite slopes at the beginning of the process. Such curves were obtained for the learning process of rhesus monkeys (Harlow, 1959) and for the free-recall process (Gorfein & Viviani, 1978). In those cases, the rate constant was 0(1) (Figure 8, discussed later).…”

“…This is precisely a growth process because each trial At; yields an additional amount of recalled items Ap;, and there is an upper limit of items that can possibly be recalled. This hypothesis was treated using data from experiments made by Gorfein and Viviani (1978) in free recall of words. They tested the transfer ability in free recall as a function of the extent to which the organization of an initial list of words exists in a second list.…”

“…Figure 8 shows the extent to which the general growth model fits the data of Gorfein and Viviani (1978) in Recall Condition 2 of Experiment 1 and Recall Condition 7 of Experiment 2. The number of words recalled was maximal in Condition 2 and minimal in Condition 7.…”

Individual Differences in Task-Specific Paired Associates Learning in Older Adults: The Role of Processing Speed and Working Memory

“…Task-specific learning as described above has been an issue in memory research for a long time, albeit such learning processes have been called learning to learn, or nonspecific learning (Gorfein & Viviani, 1978; Hultsch, 1974; Moely & Shapiro, 1971; Schwenn & Postman, 1967). Central to this research is the question of why repeating task procedures though changing to-be-learned material results in performance gains.…”