Abstract
Effects of syntactical structure on rote learning of verbal strings were studied by introducing orthogonally two components, grammatical endings and function words, into an initial string of CVC syllables. With both components present, the string had the form of a complete sentence. Presence of either component of structure produced reliable facilitation, but the two did not interact. Additivity of the effects was interpreted as evidence against the hypothesis that the sentence functions as a unitary pattern or schema.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Epstein, W. The influence of syntactical structure on learning. Amer. J. Psychol., 1961, 74, 80–85.
Epstein, W. A further study of the influence of syntactical structure on learning. Amer. J. Psychol., 1962, 75, 121–126.
Marks, L. E., & Miller, G. A. The role of semantic and syntactic constraints in the memorization of English sentences. J. verbal Learn. verbal Behav., 1964, 3, 1–5.
Miller, G. A., & Selfridge, J. A. Verbal context and the recall of meaningful material. Amer. J. Psychol., 1953, 63, 176–185.
Noble, C. E., Stockwell, F. E., & Pryer, M. W. Meaningfulness (m’) and association value (a) in paired-associate syllable learning. Psychol. Rep., 1957, 3, 441–452.
Noble, C. E. Measurements of association value (a), rated associations (a’), and scales meaningfulness (m’) for the 2100 CVC combinations of the English alphabet. Psychol. Rep. Monogr. Suppl. 3-V8, 1961.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bogartz, W., Arlinsky, M. Effects of two components of syntax on rote verbal learning. Psychon Sci 6, 517–518 (1966). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03328120
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03328120