The effects of instructional explicitness on learning and error persistence

Abstract

The purposes of this study were to investigate the effects of pictorial and/or verbal instructional stimuli on learning and error persistence. Subjects were 84 third-graders and 84 fourth-graders. Students were randomly assigned to a picture, oral, or combined presentation group. Each student saw and/or heard an adapted children's story. A constructed response recall test, containing both concrete and abstract items, was administered immediately, and 1 week after, the presentation. Oral and picture presentations yielded approximately equal learning of abstract content, but pictures yielded greater learning of concrete content. Error persistence for abstract content was greatest for picture-only presentations, while persistence of concrete errors was comparable across presentations.