On the Utility of Positive and Negative Feedback in a Paired-associate Learning Task

2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (7) ◽  
pp. 1445-1453 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yael Arbel ◽  
Anthony Murphy ◽  
Emanuel Donchin
Keyword(s):  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Positive Feedback ◽  
Paired Associate ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Paired Associate Learning ◽  
Associate Learning ◽  
Informative Feedback ◽  
Feedback Processing ◽  
Novel Objects

This study offers a neurophysiological examination of the relationship between feedback processing and learning. A two-choice paired-associate learning task borrowed and modified from Tricomi and Fiez [Tricomi, E., & Fiez, J. A. Feedback signals in the caudate reflect goal achievement on a declarative memory task. Neuroimage, 41, 1154–1167, 2008] was employed to examine the mediofrontal electrophysiological brain activity associated with the processing of performance feedback in a learning task and to elucidate the extent to which the processing of the initial informative feedback is related to learning outcomes. Twenty participants were tasked with learning to correctly pair 60 novel objects with their names by choosing on a trial-by-trial basis between two possible names and receiving feedback about the accuracy of their selection. The novel objects were presented in three blocks of trials (rounds), each of which presented the same set of 60 objects once. The rounds allowed the separation of the initial informative feedback in Round 1 from the other feedback stimuli in Rounds 2 and 3. The results indicated differences in the processing of initial informative and proceeding feedback stimuli. More specifically, the difference appeared to be driven by the change in the processing of positive feedback. Moreover, very first positive feedback provided in association with a particular new object was found associated with learning outcomes. The results imply that signs of successful and unsuccessful learning may be detected as early as the initial positive feedback provided in a learning task. The results suggest that the process giving rise to the feedback-related negativity is sensitive to the utility of the feedback and that the processing of the first informative positive feedback is associated with learning outcomes.

Effects of Low-Pass Filtering on the Rate of Learning and Retrieval from Memory of Speech-Like Stimuli

1974 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 279-285
Author(s):  
Robert Novak ◽  
Julia Davis
Keyword(s):  
Paired Associate ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Paired Associate Learning ◽  
Auditory Memory ◽  
Auditory Stimuli ◽  
Associate Learning ◽  
Low Pass ◽  
Rate Of Learning ◽  
Retrieval From Memory

Ten pairs of auditory-visual stimuli were utilized in a paired-associate learning task and a retrieval from auditory memory task presented to two groups of normal-hearing subjects. One group heard unfiltered auditory stimuli and the other group heard the same stimuli under low-pass filtering conditions. The number of trials required to learn the pairs was the measure for the learning task. The number of items recalled after presentation of strings of the auditory stimuli, ranging in length from two to nine items, was the measure of auditory retrieval. Comparison of performance between the two groups indicated that the group that heard filtered auditory stimuli required a significantly greater number of trials to learn the pairs to specifications, and performed significantly poorer in recall of five-item strings of stimuli than the group that heard unfiltered auditory stimuli. There was no difference between the two groups' performance in recall of two-, seven-, and nine-item strings. The effects of filtering are discussed with regard to their implications for understanding certain deficits associated with hearing loss.

Perceptual and Linguistic Encoding in Recognition Memory and Paired-Associate Learning

1971 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 803-806 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edgar A. Chenoweth ◽  
Gerry L. Wilcove
Keyword(s):  
Recognition Memory ◽  
Paired Associate ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Psychology Students ◽  
Paired Associate Learning ◽  
Introductory Psychology ◽  
Associate Learning ◽  
Paired Associates

A perceptual paired-associates task was presented in which pictures of objects and consonant-vowel-consonant trigrams served as stimulus and response members of the P-A unit, respectively. Introductory psychology students had been classified previously into encoding groups on the basis of their performance on a memory task. The prediction that the linguistic encoders would learn the PA task more slowly than the perceptual encoders was supported by the results.

Effect of Motivating Instructions on Verbal Learning According to Age and Race

1980 ◽  
Vol 46 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1167-1170
Author(s):  
Robert G. Summerlin ◽  
Charles V. Lair ◽  
William N. Confer
Keyword(s):  
Paired Associate ◽  
Verbal Learning ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Paired Associate Learning ◽  
Instructional Condition ◽  
Associate Learning

Young and old white ( n = 48) and black ( n = 48) women were compared on a paired-associate learning task. The groups were divided as to a motivational instructional condition of support, challenge, or neutral. Both the younger and the white groups had more correct responses and learned in fewer trials. A three-way interaction suggests that old blacks make more errors of omission and commission under supportive instructions, whereas young whites do best under challenge. Various trends and implications for these findings were discussed.

Effects of Suggestibility on Learning by Retarded and Nonretarded Students

1984 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 663-666 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annette U. Shuck ◽  
Barbara L. Ludlow
Keyword(s):  
Paired Associate ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Paired Associate Learning ◽  
Associate Learning ◽  
Treatment Conditions ◽  
Positive Performance ◽  
Performance Suggestions ◽  
Improved Performance ◽  
Age Range ◽  
Plot Design

Mildly mentally retarded and nonretarded students (age range: 10 to 16 yr.), classified by groups according to low suggestibility, were exposed to positive, negative, or neutral suggestions concerning their performance on a paired-associate learning task. A split-plot design assessed interactions between variables of subjects' category and suggestibility and treatment conditions, such as suggestion provided and trials. Analyses of variance showed retarded students improved more. The data also suggested somewhat improved performance by subjects given a positive suggestion. The suggestibility of many retarded students may be used by trainers to facilitate faster learning of simple tasks, especially if positive performance suggestions are employed.

Effects of Language Facility in Learning

1978 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 501-506 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raymond S. Dean ◽  
Raymond W. Kulhavy
Keyword(s):  
Primary School ◽  
School Success ◽  
Paired Associate ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Paired Associate Learning ◽  
Associate Learning ◽  
Partial Explanation ◽  
Future School

Sixty-four primary school boys were classified as being high or low in vocabulary and randomly assigned to a language mediation instruction or non-instructed condition. Children were individually administered CVC’s, paralogs, and simple words in a three trial paired-associate learning task. Locus of facilitation was found primarily in upper vocabulary groups and for familiar words rather than paralogs and CVC’s. Low vocabulary subjects produced fewer mediators and were less likely to get an item correct when a mediator was given. The performance of students with well-developed vocabularies was linked to their ability to manipulate language and language-based tasks. These data offer a partial explanation why vocabulary tests predict future school success, independent of overall intelligence.

Geheugenstructuren En Woordleren

1985 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
pp. 55-67
Author(s):  
Gerard Nas
Keyword(s):  
Paired Associate ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Semantic Category ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Paired Associate Learning ◽  
Associate Learning ◽  
L2 Vocabulary

In this article a model of foreign (L2) vocabulary learning is first developed in which the representation of the spelling, the pronunciation and the meaning(s) of a word are stored in their respective networks. Vocabulary learning in a paired associate learning task is then defined as the building of nodes in a network and as the establishing of an associative pathway between each new node (representing the spelling, pronunciation or meaning(s) of a newly learned L2 word) and the corresponding node for its L1 equivalent. In this model differences in spelling or pronunciation between L2 words and their L1 translations are expressed in terms of differences in length of their associative pathways. On the basis of the above distinctions a prediction was made about a difference in input speed and in the period of retrievability between two kinds of Arabic- Dutch word pairs. It was predicted that word pairs sharing some phonemic features would be learned sooner and remembered longer than those without any of these features in common. The above prediction was confirmed in a group experiment. Moreover, it showed that a resemblance between L2-L1 word pairs had a greater effect on retrievability than on input speed. Finally, the diverging results for one of the testwords were interpreted as indicating that also in associate learning of L2-L1 pairs the semantic category to which that word belonged had played its part. Its abstract meaning was assumed to have negatively affected the time needed to store the word in memory.

Effect of Sensory Modality for Presentation and Word Imagery on Paired-Associate Learning

1981 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 747-750 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Papineau ◽  
Jeffrey M. Lohr
Keyword(s):  
Paired Associate ◽  
Recall Performance ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Sensory Modality ◽  
Visual Presentation ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Paired Associate Learning ◽  
Auditory Presentation ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Associate Learning

Recall performance on a paired-associate learning task was investigated as a function of word imagery modality (visual or auditory), presentation mode (visual or auditory), and sex. Analysis showed greater recall of visual imagery words, and the results are consistent with Paivio's (1971) conceptual-peg hypothesis. Visual presentation of word lists produced greater recall than auditory presentation, and females exhibited greater recall performance than did males. A predicted interaction between modality for presentation and for word imagery did not reach statistical significance. The implications for future research with sensory imagery in learning are discussed.

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