Mental effort and elaboration: effects of accessibility and instruction.
The present study examined the effects of accessibility to relevant schematic knowledge for elaboration in the associative learning of noun pairs. Fifth-grade participants performed two simultaneous tasks--associative learning and finger tapping--so that the mental effort demands of elaborating pairs that varied in accessibility could be estimated. The mental effort expended during the creation of sentence elaborations was greater for inaccessible pairs than accessible pairs. This accessibility difference was not observed when subjects were provided with the pair members in sentences. These findings confirm information-processing analyses of the elaboration process and support a knowledge-base interpretation of developmental differences in elaboration effort.
Kee
D W
DW
Department of Psychology, California State University, Fullerton 92634.
Davies
L
L
D001288:Attention; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D011939:Mental Recall; D010153:Paired-Associate Learning; D005082:Physical Exertion; D011340:Problem Solving