Item learning in cognitive skill training: effects of item difficulty

Item difficulty effects in skill learning were examined by giving participants extensive training with repeated alphabet arithmetic problems that varied in addend size (e.g., C-D = ? is easy; C-J = ? is harder). Recognition memory for the items, as measured by interpolated recognition tests, was acquired early in training and was unaffected by item difficulty. Memory for the solutions to items, as measured by the participants' strategy reports that they had retrieved, rather than computed, the solution, was acquired later and was affected by item difficulty. Solutions to easier items were learned earlier in training for both young adults (18-24 years) and older adults (60-75 years), superimposed on an overall lower level of solution learning in older participants. The results suggest that the formation of associations between problems and their solutions is effortful and shares limited processing resources with the computational demands of the problem.