Abstract
In a verbal discrimination task, each pair consisted of a word beginning with a vowel (A, E, 0, or U) paired with a word beginning with a consonant (C, F, G, or S). When all the initial-vowel words were correct, performance was significantly better than when correctness was randomly determined. When all the initial-consonant words were correct, performance was not significantly different from the random control. Awareness of (i.e., ability to verbalize) the initial-vowel rule was not necessary for its effective utilization during VD learning, but only those few subjects who could verbalize the rule showed evidence of generalizing it to new words.
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Green, R.L., Schwartz, M. Class of initial letter as a cue to correctness in verbal discrimination. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 7, 481–482 (1976). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03337254
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03337254