Variables Affecting a Geographic Concept-Learning Task for Pre-School Children

Abstract

This study analyzed the relative effects of two categories of variables upon the learning of a basic geographic concept by a pre-school population. Independent variables were variations of irrelevant data and of positive-negative exemplar ratios. S's were 225 kindergarteners randomly drawn from nine schools, that, in turn, were selected randomly from the, total pool of public schools within a metropolitan district, A 3 × 3 factorial design was used, with S's assigned to one of the nine treatment groups. The learning task was the conjunctive concept, “island,” with the rule, “water all around the land.” Slides, tapes, and pictures were used to administer and measure the effects of treatments. S's were tested immediately after the treatments on seven criteria measures, and then retested one week later. Analyses of results sustained the null hypotheses, indicating that irrelevant material and increased negative exemplars were not significant factors in the learning task. Possible significance of the results was discussed.