Effects of Stimulus Meaningfulness on Star Discrimeter Performance

In a motor task provided by the Star Discrimeter, Ss learned to move a wobble stick into channels corresponding to six verbal stimuli. Two levels of stimulus meaningfulness (M) were used. The stimuli for the high M group were words, and the stimuli for the low M group were paralogs. Prior to motor task learning, 30 of the 60 Ss in each M group received relevant stimulus familiarization training. The S pronounced each dissyllable 20 times. The remaining Ss received irrelevant familiarization training. The S pronounced the name of six common shapes 20 times each. The results indicated that both stimulus M and familiarization are directly related to rate of learning on the Star Discrimeter