Phenomenal background frequency and the concreteness/imagery effect in verbal discrimination learning

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Psycholinguistics
• Memory Research

Background:

• Previous research indicated abstract words are perceived as more frequent than concrete words.
• The
• concreteness effect
• in learning tasks was a well-documented phenomenon.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the role of perceived word frequency in the concreteness effect.
• To test the frequency theory of discrimination learning.

Main Methods:

• College students provided frequency ratings for concrete and abstract words.
• Participants learned verbal discrimination lists containing both abstract and concrete word pairs.
• Perceived word frequency was manipulated and controlled.

Main Results:

• The study replicated the finding that abstract words are perceived as higher in frequency than concrete words.
• The typical concreteness effect was observed when perceived frequencies differed significantly.
• This effect diminished when perceived frequencies of abstract and concrete words were equated.

Conclusions:

• Perceived word frequency is a critical factor influencing the concreteness effect in discrimination learning.
• The findings provide strong support for the frequency theory of discrimination learning.
• Manipulating stimulus characteristics like perceived frequency can eliminate established learning effects.