Factors influencing incidental learning.

Abstract

Four exptl. groups of 20 college students each were given either 4 or 8 trials of incidental learning of either words or syllables, the Ss (subjects) pronouncing the items for the alleged purpose of having their speech recorded and studied. An additional group was treated comparably except that no pronunciation was involved. Immediately following the incidental-learning trials, Ss were required to begin learning by the anticipation method to a criterion of two errorless trials. Their 1st anticipation scores served as measures of incidental learning. Corresponding to each exptl. group was a control group of 20 Ss that learned with intention from the start. The principal results were as follows: (a) Intentional learning was consistently superior to incidental learning under all conditions of this expt. (b) Overt pronunciation was found not to be a factor influencing incidental learning. This contrasts with previous studies of intentional learning where pronunciation has been found to be a facilitating factor. (c) Words were no easier to learn than syllables under the conditions of incidental learning, whereas with intentional learning words were the easier material. (d) Significantly more learning was accomplished by 8 trials than by 4 trials, with both types of learning. (e) A phenomenon akin to the Blodgett type of latent learning was demonstrated with human Ss in a verbal learning task by the delayed introduction of instructions to learn.