Negative Transfer: Choice Reaction Times to Paired Associates

• Published in: The American journal of psychology Vol. 89; no. 3; pp. 431 - 442
• Main Authors: Runcie, Dennis, Baumeister, Alfred A., Gilbert, K. C., Thomason, Terry L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Urbana, etc University of Illinois Press 01-09-1976; University of Illinois Press, etc
• Subjects: Cognition; Memory; Memory interference; Standard deviation; Verbal learning
• ISSN: 0002-9556; 1939-8298
• DOI: 10.2307/1421616

Negative transfer involving paired associates was studied in three experiments using a modified Sternberg procedure. Reaction times to A-B (positive) pairs and to C-D and A-Br (negative) pairs as probes showed significantly slower responding to A-Br pairs, as well as to A-B pairs after A-Br than after C-D pairs. The results suggest that negative transfer may occur during a central stage in the serial processing of information, the stage involving the testing required to classify a probe as positive or negative. Thus, the A-Br pairs may interfere with the classification of the A-B pairs within a list by increasing the number of items in the functional probe that must be tested.