Human Classical Conditioning of Visual Compound Stimuli in Paired-Associate Tasks

Abstract

College students in introductory psychology participated in four experiments to investigate the salience of color versus figure elements of paired associates. The study also reviewed the process of learning paired associates within the context of first-order simultaneous classical conditioning. In Exp. 1, four separate classes received different treatments concerning the position and type of stimulus element (color of figure) they were instructed to recall. There were seven trials with a 30-min. delay between the sixth and seventh trials. The results indicated that the groups who were required to remember the figure element of the pairs, significantly out-performed the color groups and also learned the pairs much faster. Also, there was a sharp rise in mean correct responses remembered after a 30-min. delay for the group required to recall the color element of the paired associates. Exp. 2 was a within-subjects comparison of the effectiveness of the color and figure elements as stimuli. Again, the figures elicited more correct responses than colors. Exp. 3 tested the effectiveness within subjects of the stimulus elements as response factors. As responses, however, there were no significant differences in the number of correct answers when recalling color or figure elements until the 30-min. delay between Trials 6 and 7. As expected in Exp. 4, figures elicited significantly more functional descriptions than did colors, suggesting that figures possess a logographic nature which acts as a mnemonic device aiding in the memory of stimuli and responses.