The Effect of Interexposure Interval in Verbal Learning

While holding the interval of stimulus availability (1 sec.) and the number of exposures (3) constant, the present study investigated the effects; of interexposure interval (3, 9, or 27 sec.) and of retention interval (4, 16, 64 sec.), The verbal items used were consonant trigrams. The S counted backward during the interexposure interval as well as during the retention interval. The results showed that the effect of interexposure interval was not significant. This finding supports the hypothesis that the interexposure interval provides an opportunity for retrieval. In the previous study (Liu & Ma, 1970) of short term memory, the interval of stimulus availability was either 1, 2, or 4 sec., the number or stimulus exposures was either 1, 2, or 4 times, and the retention interval was either 3, 9, or 27 sec.