Dialectics and Meaning: The Effectr of OppOsition in Cognition and Learning

. role of dialectics in cognitive processes and 'human71'earning%four . empirical, studies' were undertaken. In study one,.vto investigate the thalectic.proceSs in affective assessment, subjects. earned opposite. and same word assOciations-thai had been paired for liked and disliked words.. An analysis of the-results showed, that both thesame and opposite grotxpt thowed a positive reinforcement value effect. In the second study, to investigate the relational ties betWeen items, the previously used ii)aired.associations were modified to. link nonsense syllables-With four affirmations. High school and college subjects learned four affirmations for each of two root nonsense syllables. The-results showed thatioothcopposite andpositive--strategiet facilitated learning. In, the, College-sample,.opposition was signifiCantly more facilitative than all other strategies. In the third study,. to ,investigate the linear quality of -demonstrative