Organization of Serial Pattern Learning

Abstract

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on the organization of serial pattern learning. It discusses several theoretical formulations and reports a series of experiments on serial integration of spatially arranged events. According to the association theory, if serial learning is handled by successive associations of one element with the next, then the subject must encounter difficulties in learning any sequence in which the same element is followed by two different elements. A subject cannot use associations to solve a branching sequence unless he has already integrated a series of previous events together into a cue or stimulus. A second theory of serial learning is that the whole sequence can be held in memory as an image, with some sort of “pointer” indicating the current location of the performer. This approach resolves many of the difficulties found in the association theory. Repetition of an element within a sequence may not produce great difficulties, provided that the element is swallowed up by organizational or “Gestalt” qualities of the sequence as perceived. Recent mathematical theories of learning have emphasized short-term memory, including the possible role of rehearsal in fixating serial learning.