Studies of distributed practice: XXIV. Differentiation and proactive inhibition.

Abstract

FOR THE A-B, A-C PARADIGM, WIDELY DISTRIBUTED PRACTICE (DP) ON A-B WILL MARKEDLY REDUCE PROACTIVE INHIBITION (PI). IT WAS ASSUMED THAT THIS WAS DUE TO INCREASED DIFFERENTIATION BETWEEN THE 2 LISTS. TO DECREASE DIFFERENTIATION WHILE STILL MAINTAINING DP, IN SOME CONDITIONS PAIRS OCCURRING IN A-B WERE REPEATED IN A-C. THESE OPERATIONS WERE ALSO CARRIED OUT WITH THE A-B, C-D PARADIGM, AND A CONTROL WAS USED TO ASSESS AMOUNT OF PI. DP WAS AGAIN SHOWN TO DECREASE PI FOR THE A-C PARADIGM IN 24-HR RECALL; STATISTICALLY, THE LEVEL OF RECALL WAS EQUIVALENT TO THE CONTROL. NO INFLUENCE OF DP WAS OBSERVED FOR THE C-D PARIDGM. REPEATED PAIRS INCREASED PI FOR THE NONREPEATED PAIRS IN A-C, HAVING NO INFLUENCE ON C-D. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)