Study of rule retention and accessibility

TWO RULES WERE LEARNED BY 33 UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS STUDENTS BY MEANS OF SPECIALLY DESIGNED SELF-INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS THAT DIFFERED IN TERMS OF THE EXAMPLES USED. IN ONE SET OF MATERIALS, ALL EXAMPLES WERE OF PRACTICAL, MEANINGFUL APPLICATIONS OF THE RULES. IN THE OTHER SET, ALL EXAMPLES CONSISTED OF ABSTRACT APPLICATIONS. AFTER AN INTERVAL OF SEVEN DAYS, THE TWO GROUPS OF STUDENTS WERE GIVEN TESTS THAT MEASURED THEIR RETENTION OF THE RULES. THE RESULTS SHOWED NO DIFFERENCE IN THE RETENTION OF STUDENTS WHO LEARNED THE RULES BY MEANS OF EITHER SET OF MATERIALS. THE RESULTS ALSO SHOWED THAT WHEN A RETRIEVAL CUE WAS USED IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE RETENTION TEST, PERFORMANCE WAS SUBSTANTIALLY IMPROVED, FOR BOTH RULES FOR BOTH GROUPS OF STUDENTS. THAT FINDING SUPPORTS THE CONCLUSION THAT SUCH INTELLECTUAL SKILLS ARE NOT FORGOTTEN OR LOST, BUT MERELY BECOME INACCESSIBLE DUE TO A FAULTY RETRIEVAL SCHEME. THUS THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN AVAILABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY IS IMPORTANT IN THE STUDY OF RETENTION OF RULES.