The von Restorff Isolation Effect Employing One and Three Isolates

Abstract

60 college students were required to learn a serial list of 13 three-letter nouns either with the middle item (E1) or the three middle items (E2) isolated, or without any isolates (C), to a learning criterion of two perfect trials. Employing the perceptual enhancement of isolation, it was found that there was a significant facilitation of the learning of the isolated item in E1. This facilitation did not occur when three items were isolated nor was the learning of the list as a whole facilitated in either E1 or E2.