Learning and the Development of Verbal Ability

Abstract

The influence of practice and training on the factorial composition of mental tests has been widely studied (Anastasi, 1936; Woodrow, 1938, 1946; Greene, 1945; French, 1965, etc.) The general findings of these and similar studies are: (a) variation in subsequent performance does not depend on the ability that it did initially and there is a change in factor loadings of tests from initial to subsequent situations; (b) no learning or gain factor is identifiable, and (c) there is an increase in the specificity of factors related to the practice tests. In these studies, generally, practice was given on all or some of the tests for a specified period of time and changes from preto post-test situations were studied. Fleishman and Hempel (1954) and others who replicated their work have obtained similar results in the psychomotor domain. Although the results of the earlier studies in the cognitive domain are noteworthy in showing changes in the structure of mental abilities as a function of practice, they do not indicate whether changes would have occurred if the intervening treatment consisted of learning experiences not exactly identical to the tests. Ferguson (1954, 1956). suggests that abilities are overlearned acquisitions which facilitate further learning. Learning, in turn, facilitates the emergence and differentiation of relevant abilities and aptitudes. In a cross-sectional study (Khan, 1970), it was found that mental abilities became specific and differentiated as a function of increased mental maturation through regular classroom learning. This differentiation was shown in terms of changes in factor patterns based on appropriately defined tests and emergence of abilities which were not clearly identifiable for the sample with lesser amounts of learning experiences. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the influence of vocabulary learning on the development of verbal ability for the Grade 7 sample used in the study noted above. It was hypothesized that verbal ability will become increasingly differentiated from other abilities such as numerical, spatial, and perceptual, and increasingly specific and similar in structure to the ability of groups with more learning experiences.