A Device for Studies in Weight Discrimination

Within-Ss 2×3 factorial design, with two methods—recall (REC) and anticipation (ANT)—and three levels of list difficulty, was used for testing the hypothesis that ANT is superior to REC only if the learning task is comparatively difficult. Each of 20 male university students learned, both by the methods of REC and ANT, pairs of 10 words and digits (WD), eight CVCs of moderate and six CCCs of low association values. Analysis of variance, except for the main effect of method, yielded high significance for all the main effects and interactions. In learning paired-associate lists for comparatively easier tasks (WD and CVC lists), no significant difference was found between the two methods. For CCC pairs, however, a significant difference was found (t = 2.50, p < .02), which supported the hypothesis. A tentative modification was suggested in W. K. Estes's theory of reinforcement in human learning.