Directionality, prior experience, and left-right habits in paired-associate learning

Paired-associate lists were learned better unidirectionally (A-B on each Trial) than bidirectionally, where B-A had to be recalled on alternate trials. This difference did not appear on Trial 2, but once a pair was learned in one direction, subsequent recall in the backward direction was lower than in the original direction. Left-right reading and coding habits affect PA learning. Prior experience apparently eliminates some of these differences. © 1966, Psychonomic Press. All rights reserved