Meaningful similarity and interference in learning.

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Abstract
"Comparison of studies supporting the Skaggs-Robinson hypothesis with those by McGeoch and others using meaningful materials presents a paradox: the former find retroaction to be a decreasing function of similarity (high degrees), while the latter find it to be an increasing function. The McGeoch studies all follow a learning paradigm in which both stimulus and response members are simultaneously varied. The present experiment follows the traditional retroactive inhibition paradigm--A-B; A-K; A-B--in which the stimulus members are constant. The experimental variable is the meaningful relationship between B and K adjectives. The obtained results show that both proactive and retroactive interference are significantly less for similar adjectives than for either neutral adjectives or adjectives opposed in meaning. Opposed meanings produce more retroactive interference than neutral meanings, but the obtained differences are not significant." It is concluded that "interference in learning may be either an increasing or decreasing function of similarity, depending on the stimulus-response relationships in the materials successively practiced." It is also concluded that neither McGeoch's "competition-of-responses" factor nor Melton's "Factor X" accounts for the intrusions obtained in the present experiment. 32 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)

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