The Relative Importance of Proactive Inhibition and Degree of Learning in Retention of Paired Associate Items

It has been reported that recall scores tend to decline with increasing numbers of lists learned. This has been attributed to proactive inhibition from the earlier lists. Two experiments are reported which test the hypothesis that this variation in recall score is more dependent on variations in mean degree of learning of items. This more economic explanation is supported by the findings, but analysis of the data indicates that a second factor plays a minor role in determining recall scores. It is suggested that this may be proactive inhibition, but that other interpretations are also possible

Cognitive psychology · Degree (music) · Developmental psychology · Free recall · Recall · Test (biology) · Variation (astronomy) · Educational Strategies and Epistemologies · Psychology · School Choice and Performance · Social Psychology