Can the superior learnability of meaningful and pleasant words be transferred to nonsense syllables?
Document Type
Article
Date of Original Version
10-1-1968
Abstract
48 female in 1 experiment and 32 male undergraduates in another 1st learned a paired-associate (PA) list of words as responses to nonsense syllables. In 1 condition the words differed in meaningfulness (M) and in the other condition the words differed in pleasantness (PL). Ss learned a 2nd PA list of the same syllables as responses to numbers. High-M words were learned faster than low-M words, but did not transfer either this difference in learning or the difference in rated M to the syllables. Pleasant words were learned faster than indifferent words in 1 experiment (men's) but not in the other (women's). In neither experiment did the words transfer their difference in learning to the syllables, but in the men's experiment they did transfer the difference in rated PL. (17 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1968 American Psychological Association.
Publication Title, e.g., Journal
Journal of Experimental Psychology
Volume
78
Issue
2 PART 1
Citation/Publisher Attribution
Silverstein, Albert, and Richard A. Dienstbier. "Can the superior learnability of meaningful and pleasant words be transferred to nonsense syllables?." Journal of Experimental Psychology 78, 2 PART 1 (1968): 292-298. doi: 10.1037/h0026304.