Individual Differences in Learning from Verbal and Figural Materials

摘要

The effects of supplementary verbal and figural instructional materials on students of different abilities are not fully understood. Findings in this area have been inconclusive and inconsistent. Rarely have treatment or aptitude specifications been sufficiently precise to relate outcome to particular instructional components. The present study attempted to improve on some of these shortcomings. Of primary interest in this study was the effect of general ability on learning. It was hypothesized that students higher in general ability would obtain higher posttest scores on the average than lower ability students. It was further hypothesized that verbal and figural explanatory supplements to minimal instructional materials would reduce the regression of general ability on outcome. That is, the difference between low and high ability students was expected to be smallest when instruction was supplemented with explanatory verbal or figural displays. This study further explored the differential impact of crystallized-verbal ability (Gc) and fluid-spatial-visualization ability (Gfv). As before, it was expected that students with higher aptitude scores would obtain higher posttest scores. Furthermore, it was hypothesized that Gc and Gfv might moderate the relations between instruction and outcome differently. Thus, verbal supplements were expected to be particularly useful to students low in Gc; figural supplements were expected to be particularly useful to students low in Gfv.