Studies in International Morse Code: V. The effect of the "phonetic equivalent."

Abstract

"With respect to this system of identification, both Skinner and Wertheimer proposed that phonetic equivalents be chosen on the basis of their formal similarity to the signals themselves, without discarding the distinctive cues furnished by the initial letter." In following these proposals, the authors obtained data on 19 college undergraduates which could be compared with data from 2 previous studies that were similar except for their Signal Corps equivalents. Results showed that, insofar as speed of learning was concerned, neither set of equivalents had any advantage; nevertheless reversal errors were noticeably decreased by use of the new equivalents. Inadequacy of the name-words chosen is suggested as an explanation for failure of the isomorphic equivalents to show a decrease in learning time. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)