Retroactive Interference in Performance on the Star Discrimeter as a Function of Amount of Interpolated Learning

The present study' is one of a series dealing with retroactive effects in the performance of perceptual-motor tasks. The experimental procedures have been the same. Ss first practice on a task under uniform conditions. This is the original learning (OL) phase. They next practice on a task basically like the first one but requiring different directional movements of the controls. This is the interpolated learning (IL) phase. Finally they relearn the original task, in the RL phase. If the amount or level of OL is held constant, the retroactive effects resulting from different amounts of IL are reflected in performance differences during RL. The relative strength and persistence of interfering and/or facilitative response tendencies developed during IL may be estimated from gains and losses in RL performance.