Psychological Bulletin

McGeoch, G. O.

doi: 10.1037/h0073938pmid: N/A

A critical analysis is made of thirty investigations, including those on serial nonsense syllables, on paired associates, on poetry, on prose, and on acts of skill; with the net yield that while the data give a somewhat consistent showing in favor of the whole method with the abler, practical subjects, there is really no inherently superior method. The efficiency of any method turns out on analysis to be a function of many interacting factors: the age, etc., of the subjects; the character of the material; the practice periods; the form of the part method used; the method of measuring the efficiency both of learning and of retention; the length of interval.