Pseudomediation: Is chaining an artifact?

Mediated association in verbal learning has frequently been characterized by the facilitation produced in a three-stage paired-associate paradigm: A-B, B-C, A-C. Using an appropriate control group, the present experiment demonstrated facilitation in an A-B, B-C, A-E paradigm. It is argued that the usual mediation effect may be not due to mediated chaining but rather to a combination of bidirectional association and unlearning.