We examined whether individual differences in working memory influence the facility with which individuals learn new categories. Participants learned two different types of category structures: "rule-based" and "information-integration." Successful learning of the former category structure is thought to be based on explicit…

THE NATURE OF A CONCEPT WAS EXPLICATED IN TERMS OF FOUR CHARACTERISTICS--DEFINABILITY, STRUCTURE, PSYCHOLOGICAL MEANINGFULNESS AND UTILITY. A CONCEPT LEARNING STRATEGY WAS SEEN TO BE COMPRISED OF THREE SETS OF COGNITIVE PROCESSES--(1) ANALYZING SITUATION, (2) SECURING INFORMATION, AND (3) PROCESSING INFORMATION. A SERIES OF 19 CONTROLLED…

A comparison was made between older youth and a sample of retired elderly relative to response confidence in a multiple-choice task situation. Analysis indicated that both age groups utilized feedback effectively over the two retention conditions and that both groups expressed similar levels of confidence for the specific task. (Author)