Transfer of interitem associations from serial to paired-associate learning

Abstract

Transfer of interitem associations from a serial to a paired-associate (PA) list was investigated. Two serial and two PA lists were used. All lists were constructed from consonant-vowel-consonant trigrams matched for meaningfulness and arranged so as to minimize intralist variability. In the experimental condition S learned a PA list constructed from adjacent items on a previously learned serial list. In the control condition the irrelevant PA list was learned. No differences in trials to learn the two PA lists were found. The results of the present experiment replicate previous transfer studies in which such lists were constructed of adjectives. An interitem association theory of serial learning is not supported.