Effects of Associative Reaction Time and Meaningfulness of Stimulus Terms in Forward and Backward Paired-Associate Learning

48 Ss learned a list of PAs, at either a 2-sec. or 7-sec. presentation rate (PR), in which the stimulus terms were assessed on the bases of associative reaction time (RT) and meaningfulness (M). In forward anticipation learning, the effect of RT of stimulus terms was not significant but M was, with the greatest effect at the 2-sec. PR. In a backward recall test, the short-latency RT stimulus terms were recalled more frequently than the long-latency RT terms and high-M terms were recalled more frequently than low-M terms. The results were interpreted in terms of a two-stage analysis in which the effects of M were related to stimulus recognition and the effects of RT to stimulus recall.