Paired Associate Memorization Flashcards

In the MLAT Paired Associates task, you study word pairs like 'nep = body'. If 'nep' appears later in a sentence, what should you recall?

Answer: The meaning 'body'

The task requires recalling the English meaning assigned to each artificial word during the study phase.

Which cognitive skill is MOST directly measured by the Paired Associates subtest of the MLAT?

Answer: Rote learning ability

Paired Associates measures rote learning ability—the capacity to memorize arbitrary form-meaning connections.

A learner studied 24 word-meaning pairs and correctly recalled 18 on the test. What is their accuracy rate?

Answer: 75%

18 ÷ 24 = 0.75, which equals 75% accuracy.

On the MLAT Paired Associates section, the artificial words are designed to be unfamiliar. Why?

Answer: To eliminate prior knowledge advantages

Using invented words ensures all test-takers start with equal prior knowledge, isolating pure memorization ability.

Which study strategy would LEAST help performance on the Paired Associates subtest?

Answer: Analyzing the grammatical structure of the artificial word

Analyzing grammatical structure is irrelevant since the artificial words have no real grammar; repetition and imagery are more effective.

In a Paired Associates test with 4 answer choices per item, what is the probability of answering correctly by random guessing?

Answer: 25%

With 4 choices, random guessing yields a 1-in-4 chance, or 25% probability of being correct.

Which factor is MOST likely to hurt a test-taker's score on the MLAT Paired Associates section?

Answer: Poor working memory capacity

Working memory is critical for holding new word-meaning pairs during encoding and retrieval; poor capacity directly impairs performance.