The effect of a change of background on recall and relearning.

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The material to be learned consisted of nonsense syllables which were to be memorized by the paired-associates method. Changes in background were secured by means of variations in chroma and differences in brightness. The following conclusions are inferred from the results: (1) When materials become associated with the environment during learning, any change of that environment is likely to prove detrimental to recall. The degree of effect will presumably vary with the number and strength of the connections and the extent to which the environment is altered. All degrees of effect may be secured. (2) When no such associations are present, the introduction of new environmental conditions may distract the subject and interfere with recall. The degree of interference will presumably vary with the degree and character of the change and the subject's susceptibility to it. (3) There is no need to assume that every environmental change will be detrimental. Some changes may be too slight to produce an effect. The experiments prove that the environmental conditions are factors involved in recall, and any experiments yielding negative results do not disprove the principle. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: