Learning & Recall of Word-Sign Pairs: The Impact of Sign Etymology

In this study we examined the effect of providing information on the etymology or origin of a sign and memory for that sign. Eightytwo subjects, undergraduate students unfamiliar with American Sign Language (ASL), were presented lists of ASL signs and their English translation equivalents in one of three experimental conditions: sign etymology supplied, sign motor rehearsal, and no coding instructions provided. Subjects were tested immediately after list presentation and again after a one-week delay for cued item recall; the ASL signs served as the cues for the English words. In immediate recall, there were only small differences across experimental conditions. In delayed recall, those subjects who received the sign etymologies remembered more sign-word pairs than the subjects in the other two conditions. Those who received the etymologies also showed smaller decrements in recall levels across the one-week delay. Apparently, learning about a sign’s origin facilitates long-term sign retention. These findings are interpreted within the framework that deeper, more distinctive, or more elaborative processing of information aids its retention.