PREDICTION OF TRANSFER AND OTHER LEARNING PHENOMENA FROM ABILITY AND PERSONALITY MEASURES

Investigated the extent to which personality and ability measures, administered to 57 male undergraduates, predicted: (1) the transfer effects of associative interference when S is shifted to a 2nd task and when shifted back to the original task; (2) performance at different stages of learning each of these tasks; and (3) performance during and following a massed trial, as compared with shorter, spaced trials. The 2nd task consisted of a reversal of display-control relations. Correlational and multiple-correlational analysis among predictors and task variations were carried out. Results indicate that ability measures predicted performance level during all original and reversed tasks, but personality measured did not. Rate of learning measures were not predictable. Certain ability measures predicted transfer effects, but the particular measure depended on the shift point. Performance during massed practice was just as predictable as performance during distributed practice, but performance during the trial following massed practice showed a sharp decrease in prediction by ability measures and an increase in prediction by certain personality measures. (50 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1969 American Psychological Association.