The congruency effect: Just what is being learned?

G. H. Bower, S. Thompson-Schill, and E. Tulving (1994) found that when stim ulus-response sets in A-B, A-C learning belong to unique categories (congru ent-triads), learning appropriate responses appear rapid and memory perform ance on a modified modified free recall (MMFR) test is enhanced. Bower et a l. assumed that category cues protect associations from interpair interfere nce, allowing more rapid learning. However, unlike arbitrary pairs, congrue nt pairs also allow a reliance on preexperimental associations. As a result , MMFR test performance may not be an unbiased test of what was learned. In the present experiment, free recall (FR) demonstrated that responses were learned approximately equally in all conditions and that the pattern of clu stering was compatible with the hypothesis that preexperimental association s continue to play a major role in FR test performance.