Prior Knowledge Norms for Naming Country Outlines: An Open Stimulus Set

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Learning and Memory Research

Background:

• Traditional paired-associate learning studies often use novel materials, limiting real-world applicability.
• Generalizing findings from laboratory settings to real-world learning contexts is challenging due to unaddressed prior knowledge variations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an ecologically valid stimulus set for learning and memory research.
• To provide a database that accommodates varying levels of prior knowledge in participants.
• To facilitate research on real-world learning contexts.

Main Methods:

• A stimulus set of 112 country outline-name pairs was created.
• Response times and prior knowledge were recorded for these items.
• Data were collected from 285 participants, primarily from Western Europe.

Main Results:

• The stimulus set exhibited a wide range of prior knowledge, from 0.3% to 94.4%.
• This variability allows researchers to select stimuli based on desired prior knowledge levels.
• The database enables the study of learning with pre-existing knowledge.

Conclusions:

• The developed database offers a valuable tool for ecologically valid research in learning and memory.
• It addresses the limitation of using entirely novel materials in cognitive psychology studies.
• Researchers can now investigate learning processes with stimuli that reflect real-world prior knowledge.