Mandler & Earhard (1964) have shed doubt on the legitimacy of interpreting facilitated Stage 3 performance in the paired associate A-B, B-C, A-C chaining paradigm as being due to mediating associations. This problem was examined further in the present study by investigating simultaneously four three-stage PA paradigms, Mandler and Earhard’ s two paradigms, plus an additional control and the “classic ” chaining paradigm. Performance in Stage 3 under chaining conditions was clearly and significantly superior to performance under all other conditions. No evidence for so-called “pseudo-mediation ” effects was obtained. It was concluded that a mediational interpretation for the observed facilitation under chaining conditions remains highly tenable.