Response factors in verbal learning and transfer

Two experiments investigated the role of responses in organizing unrelated stimulus materials and altering performance in shift paradigms. In Exp. I free recall tests given after paired-associate training involving unrelated stimulus words mapped onto single-digit responses in a 4:1 ratio showed significant clustering around the response members. For Exp. II Ss learned unrelated word-number paired-associate lists (again mapped 4:1), whereupon the required responses were shifted, but the new pairings left the response-defined categories undisturbed. Subjects displayed positive transfer on the basis of response-created categories. Learning on the final word-letter list demonstrated response-defined within-category errors equal in magnitude to stimulus-defined within-category errors of control groups.