ABSTRACT
In this chapter we wish to interpret some of the more salient procedures and results of verbal learning research in terms of our theory. Although HAM is really a theory about learning and retrieval of propositions rather than lists of single items, we nonetheless think it advisable to try to link up the theory with the verbal learning research. This is because most of the laboratory studies of human memory have been done in the verbal learning tradition, and it is from these that we have our most reliable findings. It is clear too that if HAM is to initiate very many experimental tests of its claims, they will come largely from the members who comprise this "human-memory" group rather than from the linguists or computer scientists. Although this chapter attempts to interpret or "translate" some of the verbal learning results in terms of the theoretical mechanisms of HAM, we should emphasize that HAM was not specifically designed for this interpretive task, we have not invested as much time as we should have liked in these thoughts, nor should the model stand or fall on the strength of these interpretations.
