| Popis: |
Learning multiplication tables consists in learning several associations between problems and solutions, a process which is potentially vulnerable to interference. We report two experiments in which participants solved novel multiplication problems (e.g., 8 x 45 = 360) in either a high or a low interference block. Interference was manipulated by increasing or decreasing the overall reoccurrence of digits in each block, as well as by increasing or decreasing the co-occurrence of digits in specific positions of the problems from each block. Participants had 45 seconds to solve all the problems from each block, otherwise the block was repeated until this performance was reached. Each block contained 6 or 4 problems (Experiments 1 and 2, respectively). In both experiments, interference caused impairments in initial learning. That is, participants needed more trials to learn the correct answers, showed lower overall accuracy, and were slower when solving problems from the high relative to the low interference block. The results give support for the proposal that interference has an essential role in arithmetic-facts learning. |
