In recent years the importance of mnemonic strategies in learning has been recognized. Through the use of special mnemonic devices some spectacular results in recall performance have been obtained. However, systematic research on mnemonic devices is only now starting to be done. Consequently, not much is known about techniques for optimizing recall performance with mnemonic devices or the suitability of using mnemonic devices in educational settings. To help remedy this situation four aspects of the study of mnemonic devices are discussed: (1) Reasons are given why research on mnemonic devices should be performed. (2) A system is outlined by which common mnemonic devices can be classified. (3) Because recall with mnemonic devices is mediated by cognitive cuing structures created by the user, properties are described which these cognitive cuing structures must have to be effective. The criteria of constructibility, discriminability, associability, and invertibility are discussed as important properties of ...

Mnemonic Devices: Classification, Characteristics, and Criteria

Discrete responses of experimentally naive, food-deprived White Carneaux pigeons (key pecks) or Sprague-Dawley rats (bar or omnidirectional lever presses) initiated unsignaled delay periods that terminated with food delivery Each subject first was trained to eat from the food source, but no attempt was made to shape or to otherwise train the response In both species, the response developed and was maintained Control procedures excluded the simple passage of time, response elicitation or induction by food presentation, type of operandum, food delivery device location, and adventitious immediate reinforcement of responding as the basis for the effects Results revealed that neither training nor immediate reinforcement is necessary to establish new behavior The conditions that give rise to both the first and second response are discussed, and the results are related to other studies of the delay of reinforcement and to explanations of behavior based on contingency or correlation and contiguity

Response acquisition with delayed reinforcement

https://www.cell.com/trends/cognitive-sciences/pdf/S1364-6613(02)01941-1.pdf

Introspection and cognitive brain mapping: from stimulus-response to script-report.

Copytesting results from a commercial copytesting firm were used to assessthe relation between the presence of linguistic features in brand names and memory for those names. Brand names in the ads being tested ( n = 480) were coded on 23 linguistic properties, of which 11 occurred with sufficient frequency to be retained for analysis. Regression analyses tested for the association between linguistic properties of the brand names and brand-name memory as a function ofbrand-name familiarity,controlling forexecutionalvariables.Resultsrevealed thatthree linguistic variableswerepositively related to brand-name memory (semantic appositeness, paranomasia, initial plosives), but only for less familiar brands. Two linguistic variablesshowed main effectsfor brand-name memory: unusual spelling (positive) and blending (negative). However, the effects for unusual spelling and blending were also qualified by the same interaction with familiarity: The effects were stronger for less familiar brands than they were f...

The Relation Between Brand-name Linguistic Characteristics and Brand-name Memory

The Keyword Method (KWM) of vocabulary learning is a mnemonic method designed to help students learn foreign vocabulary. It has been shown to be effective over several other memorization strategies. The present experiment was designed to explore the cognition underlying the effectiveness of the KWM. Specifically, both the degree of cognitive engagement with the method and visual encoding were examined as possible sources. Subjects were tested in a 2 (imagery level)×2 (processing strategy) mixed design. Each subject was asked to memorize 30 Latin vocabulary words, divided evenly among high- and low-imagery value words. Subjects were either provided with both keywords and interactions (the Given condition) or instructions to generate their own keywords and interactions (the Self-Generated condition). Retention was tested in both immediate and delayed post-tests. Results revealed a strong effect of imagery level in both post-tests. No significant main effect of processing strategy or interactions between ima...

An investigation of the cognitive processes underlying the keyword method of foreign vocabulary learning

Grain displayed behind a transparent response key was used as a stimulus to prime the pecking response of pigeons. After different numbers of primed responses reinforced by the delivery of food below the key, responses in extinction were measured in the absence of the priming stimulus. In producing initial responses the priming stimulus was found to be highly effective, and generalization occurred to the key alone. Within the range of 5 to 355 priming trials the maximum effect was obtained with 30 trials.

/pdf/priming-the-pecking-response-in-pigeons-3hvpp7owuc.pdf

Priming the pecking response in pigeons

Can the same mnemonic system be used repeatedly without deterioration in performance through interference? Ss used a "peg-word" system to memorize a single list of 10 nouns in different orders. No decline in performance was found. A control group improved on successive trials but at all times recalled less than the mnemonic group.

/pdf/the-repeated-use-of-mnemonic-imagery-8817a344l5.pdf

The repeated use of mnemonic imagery

Two experiments investigated the role of the imagery-evoking (I) value of words in the recall of the contents of a passage of connected prose. In Experiment 1, Ss studied a passage into which either high- or low-I adjectives had been inserted. They were first asked to recall the nouns and then, given the nouns, to recall the adjectives. Significantly more high-I than low-I adjectives were recalled, but the nouns qualified by high-I adjectives were no more frequently recalled than those qualified by low-I adjectives. In Experiment 2, I ratings of the nouns in the passage were obtained both in their context in the passage and independently as a list. Both sets of ratings correlated significantly with the recall of the nouns in Experiment 1, the correlation being significantly higher for the rating in context.

/pdf/imagery-and-the-recall-of-adjectives-and-nouns-from-2n9rotusr5.pdf

R. L. Reid

Papers

Priming the pecking response in pigeons

The repeated use of mnemonic imagery

Imagery and the recall of adjectives and nouns from meaningful prose