‘ UNLEARNING ’ AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO AGE

Abstract

The results of previous research have shown that adults experience difficulty in correcting or unlearning responses which they have made in error and that this difficulty increases with ago. Two experiments have been conducted using paired verbal associates. In one, subjects were encouraged to make guess responses during repeated learning and testing trials. In the other, they were asked to relearn response items which they were told had been presented in error. Neither young nor old subjects experienced difficulty in unlearning either the guess or incorrect responses. It is postulated that these responses were not difficult to extinguish since they were largely constrained by the experiment and in that sense ‘ passive ’. On the other hand, responses which are more likely to persist are those made in a relatively open situation where the learner is allowed to create or reconstruct his response. The implications for adult training in industry are discussed.