The Effects of Type of Stimulus Pretraining and Stimulus Complexity on Encoding Processes of Normals and Retardates.

The purpose of this study was to study the effects of type of stimulus pretraining and stimulus complexity on encoding processes of normals and retardates using a serial probe task. A review of the literature indicated that retardates are deficient in what Bower refers to as "coding as elaboration." Thirty normal Ss and thirty retarded Ss were used in the study. A group of normals and retardates was pretrained with labels that were relevant to the stimuli while another group was pretrained with labels that were irrelevant to the stimuli. A third group received familiarization training. Each group received either complex (12-pointed shapes) or simple (4-pointed shapes) stimuli. After pretraining Ss were given a probe task using the stimuli they received in pretraining. Results indicated that normals were superior to retardates in recall, particularly in the primacy segment of the SPC. Also, it was found that complex stimuli had a higher recall rate than simple stimuli. Pretraining with high relevant labels was found to facilitate recall in the primacy segment of the SPC, and this facilitation was even more pronounced for the retardates who received complex shapes. It was concluded that complex stimuli resulted in higher recall because there was less intralist similarity among them than among simple stimuli. It was also concluded that retardates could encode in certain situations if supplied with the appropriate strategy, but unlike normals, could not invent their own strategies. Limitations of the study, such as the small cell size and small number of times that each serial position was probed, were pointed out.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Year

1974

Author dc:creator

• Hillhouse, John Douglas

• Stimulus pretraining
• Stimulus complexity
• Encoding processes

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.library.uab.edu/etd-collection/6901

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.library.uab.edu:etd-collection-7893