The Problem of Controlling Level of Learning in Studies of Associative Interference in Psychomotor Performance

Authors

Jack A. Adams, State University of Iowa

Document Type

Research

Abstract

The problems discussed in this paper arose during a search for an experimental design that would yield reliable measures of associative interference for the individual subject. Such measures are needed as part of an extensive research project concerned with individual susceptibility to interference in verbal and psychomotor performance. Interference effects are commonly studied in the laboratory under conditions that provide for original learning (OL) of some task to a given criterion, interpolated learning (IL) of a different task to a given criterion, and the subsequent relearning (RL) or recall of the original task. Two measures of interference are sought when this design is employed: (1) the retardation in the learning of the interpolated task resulting from the previous learning of the original task (associative inhibition), and (2) the decrement in the recall of the original task arising from the learning of the interpolated task (retroactive inhibition). A control condition is included to reveal the effects of rest periods (passage of time) inserted between the learning of the original task and its later recall.

Publication Date

1949

Journal Title

Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science

Volume

56

Issue

1

First Page

249

Last Page

253

Copyright

©1949 Iowa Academy of Science, Inc.

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

Recommended Citation

Adams, Jack A. (1949) "The Problem of Controlling Level of Learning in Studies of Associative Interference in Psychomotor Performance," Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science, 56(1), 249-253.
Available at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/pias/vol56/iss1/34