ERIC Number: EJ831500
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2009-Mar
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0278-7393
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Influence of Visual Stimulus Mode on Transfer of Acquired Spatial Associations
Proctor, Robert W.; Yamaguchi, Motonori; Zhang, Yanmin; Vu, Kim-Phuong L.
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, v35 n2 p434-445 Mar 2009
Associations between corresponding stimulus-response locations are often characterized as over learned, producing automatic activation. However, 84 practice trials with an incompatible mapping eliminate the benefit for spatial correspondence in a transfer Simon task, where stimulus location is irrelevant. The authors examined whether transfer occurs for combinations of physical-location, arrow-direction, and location-word modes in the practice and transfer sessions. With 84 practice trials, the Simon effect was reduced for locations and arrows, and there was complete transfer across these modes; location words showed little transfer within or between modes. These results suggest that the acquired short-term associations were based on visual-spatial stimulus codes distinct from semantic-spatial codes activated by the words. With 600 practice trials, words showed transfer to word and arrow but not location Simon tasks, suggesting that arrows share semantic-spatial codes with words. Reaction-time distribution functions for the Simon effect showed distinct shapes for each stimulus mode, with little impact of the practiced mapping on the shapes. Thus, the contribution of the short-term location associations seems to be separate from that of the long-term associations responsible for the Simon effect. (Contains 4 figures and 4 tables.)
Descriptors: Semantics, Attention Control, Reaction TIme, Spatial Ability, Visual Stimuli, Time Factors (Learning), Associative Learning, Undergraduate Students, Universities, Psychology
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Indiana
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A