Stimulus Availability and Backward Association: Meaning, Frequency, and Associative Bond Strength

Abstract

It was found that increasing stimulus availability by manipulating stimulus meaning and frequency, increased the manifestations of backward association (Exp. I). In Exp. II, to determine whether increased stimulus availability increased backward association as a performance phenomenon or whether the backward associative bond was actually strengthened, results were indeterminate because over-all interference effects were obtained. It was concluded that stimulus availability was only one contributor to backward association and must be considered in relation to the strength of the forward associative bond, method of test, and test-list context.