TRANSFER OF REACTIVE INHIBITION

Abstract

A serious challenge to C. L. Hull`s (1943) theory of reminiscence and intertrial-interval effects is posed by the current contention that reactive inhibition (IR) must be task-specific since it does not seem to transfer from one task to another. This notion was examined within the framework of a practice–rest paradigm in which 3 control groups were given 20 1-min trials on a principal task with intertrial intervals of 0, 5, and 70 sec, respectively, while 2 experimental groups practiced alternately on the principal task and a secondary task known to produce evidence for IR. The 2 secondary tasks varied in their similarities to the principal task. Additional control group, were used to assess the magnitude of habit transfer effects. Ss were 70 males and 70 females whose modal age was 18 yrs. With habit transfer effects controlled, results show clearly that work effects transferred from the alternate tasks to the main task without regard for differences in similarity. Thus, the task-specificity hypothesis was not supported