Differential Involvement of Working Memory Capacity and Fluid Intelligence in Verbal Associative Learning as a Possible Function of Strategy Use

Abstract

Abstract The paired-associate paradigm has a long history of use in basic and applied research on human memory and learning. A number of studies have shown that people differ in the strategies they use to encode information in paired-associate tasks and, importantly, that strategies differ in their effectiveness. What is not so well documented is how different strategies may affect the cognitive processes assessed by paired-associate tasks. In this study, we submitted archival data to distributional and latent class analyses to infer strategy use and classify participants as elaborators or nonelaborators. We then used regression analyses within subgroups to identify differences in dependence on fluid intelligence and working memory capacity. To the extent that our classification was accurate, the results suggest that paired-associate learning is more reliant on fluid intelligence when elaborative rehearsal is used and more reliant on working memory capacity when nonelaborative strategies are used. To offer further evidence of the validity of our approach, we also investigated correlations between strategy use and fluid intelligence and working memory capacity. In accord with prior research, we found that cognitive abilities were positively correlated with what we infer to be differences in strategy use. That the cognitive processes assessed by verbal paired-associate tasks may vary as a function of strategy use should be a concern for all researchers and practitioners who use such tasks.