Mediated associations: Paradigms, controls, and mechanisms

Experimental and control paradigms used in conventional demonstrations of verbal mediated associations are examined in detail. In Part I it is argued that observed differences in mediation paradigms, when mediation is demonstrated through laboratory-established associations, cannot be attributed unequivocally to mediation mechanisms. Paradigm and control conditions were found to differ with respect to non-mediational factors such as forgetting and interference which tend to produce effects similar to those predicted from the mediation model. In Part II methods for overcoming these deficiencies are discussed and evidence for the operation of mediational rules or conceptual mediation is presented. In Part III the conventional mediation model is evaluated and a theoretical resolution is suggested. (81 ref.)