VERB FACILITATION OF PAIRED-ASSOCIATE LEARNING AS A FUNCTION OF SYNTACTIC AND SEMANTIC RELATIONS

Fourth- and fifth-grade children were given a PA learning task. Experimental groups were exposed to nouns linked by verbs (sentences), while the control group saw conjunction-linked nouns. Effects of three independent variables were assessed: semantic relation of the verb with its nouns, test-trial stimuli, and verb construction. Performance varied as a function of the verb relation and test stimulus factors. Results suggest that verbs, in order to produce better noun-pair learning than conjunctions, must be aroused during the test trial so that they can expedite retrieval of verb phrases where object nouns are stored. Also, the findings indicate that verbs can cue recall as well as nouns and that verb-preposition connectives have the same effect on performance as verbs. © 1969 Academic Press Inc. All rights reserved.