Theses (Ed.S.)--Marshall University, 2004. / Title from document title page. Includes abstract. Document formatted into pages: contains 22 p. Bibliography: p. 22.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

This study was designed to examine a number of factors which might affect the ability to equate auditory and visual non-verbal stimuli as measured by performance on the auditory-visual integration (AVI) test of Birch & Belmont (1964, 1965) and Kahn & Birch (1968) . In this test S is presented with an auditory dot pattern and is required to identify the one of three printed visual dot patterns which is the same as the one heard. Short-term auditory memory, stimulus length and sex differences were studied as possible factors affecting performance on the AVI test. A random selection, from three elementary schools, of 108 third-grade children, 54 males and 54 females, were assigned to one of two groups. Two modified forms of the AVI test defined as the consecutive presentation and the simultaneous presentation, were administered, one to each group of Ss. The first of these tests presented the auditory and visual, stimuli consecutively; that is, the auditory stimulus, after a delay of 5 sec., was followed by three visual stimuli presented one at a time, of which one corresponded to the auditory stimulus. It was proposed that this presentation format would involve short-term auditory memory as a possible factor affecting the judgments of auditory-visual equivalence. The second test presented the auditory and visual stimuli simultaneously as pairs; that is, there was no delay between the auditory and visual stimuli. Each of three visual stimuli was presented simultaneously with the same auditory stimulus. It was assumed that this presentation would eliminate short-term auditory memory as a factor affecting auditory-visual integration competence. It was found that third-grade children were able to process the simultaneous presentation of auditory and visual non-verbal stimuli, at certain stimulus lengths, with more facility than they were when the same stimuli were presented in the consecutive mode. This result supported the hypothesis that there might be a significant short-term auditory memory factor in performance of the AVI test and that this memory component might be significantly related to judgments of auditory-visual equivalence. The position of the visual stimuli was also found to affect the recognition of auditory and visual pairs in the AVI test. The effect, significant though small, occurred for both the consecutive and simultaneous presentations, indicating that interference or decay of sensory processing did occur whether the presentation was consecutive or simultaneous for stimuli in the third position. It was suggested that interference and/or decay in short-term memory, might account for the impaired ability to make correct judgments of auditory-visual equivalence for stimuli in position three as compared to stimuli in positions one and two for the consecutive presentation. The assumption of proactive interference was invoked to account for the occurrence of the same phenomenon in the simultaneous presentation. Another finding indicated that stimulus length per se might not be a significant factor affecting the difficulty of auditory-visual equivalence judgments, but that a factor related to length might be. The results are consistent with a theory of recoding input stimuli and suggest that an increase in the number of units of stimuli to be retained and not the number of stimuli per unit, might be the factor affecting the difficulty level of auditory-visual equivalence judgments. Sex of the children was not found to affect performance on the AVI tests significantly. Further research considerations in the area of AVI were advanced. / Education, Faculty of / Graduate

In the study of differential abilities in learning and in the diagnosis and remediation of learning disabilities, much attention has been paid to the mode in which material is presented or becomes available (input), and to the form in which response is made (output). Following common practice, the input modes used in this study are Auditory, Visual, and Haptic (tactile-kinesthetic), and the output modes are Vocal and Motor. Different investigators have stressed either the input modes or the output modes as critical in the development or amelioration of learning disabilities. Reports reaching the writer from teachers and clinicians have described learning problems that seem unexplainable in terms of such input or output effects. This study advances and tests the proposition that, important as input and output modes may be separately in accounting for children's performances, there are children for whom input and output modes operate interactively instead of (or as well as) independently. The task chosen for the experiment was one of memory for object sequences. It involved presenting, under each of the three input conditions separately, sequences of familiar objects increasing in number from two to eight. The subjects were 90 Grade I Vancouver, B.C., children. Following each sequence, every subject was required to indicate the objects that had been presented. This was done independently under both vocal and motor output conditions. To increase reliability, three sequences were presented at each sequence-length. Each child was given two replications on all input-output combinations, with an interval of two weeks. Scoring was designed to take account of both the length of sequence that a child could recall correctly, and the number and kinds of error that he made under each combination of input and output modes. The resulting scores were viewed as entries in a four-factor experiment having two fixed factors (3 levels of Input and 2 levels of Output) and two random factors (90 subjects and 2 replications). Standard ANOVA procedures reveal, as hypothesized, a highly significant Subjects x Input x Output interaction. There is also a highly significant Subjects x Input interaction and a less impressive but nonchance Subjects x Output interaction. Estimates of variance components associated with each of these effects show the S x I x 0 interaction to account for about as much variance as the total of the two-way interactions, giving a clear indication of the potential importance of Input x Output combinations in learning diagnoses. The scoring patterns of individual children were analyzed. Certain children were found to have performed particularly well or badly under specific combinations of input and output modes that seemed to be unrelated to whatever input or output strengths or weaknesses they had. The implications of this interactive role of input and output modes were explored and resulted in recommendations for teachers and clinicians, as well as for further research. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

An investigation was conducted to determine if the performance and learning of a pursuit rotor skill was a function of practice schedule and initial ability level. Two groups of 30 subjects each were given two consecutive days of practice, with 22 and 20 trials respectively, on the pursuit rotor under different schedules of practice. The performance score of the massed practice group (30 secs. work, 5 secs. rest) was found to be significantly lower than that of the distributed practice group (30 secs. work, 30 secs. rest) on the first day of practice. However, after 24 hours of interpolated rest, both groups were statistically equal in terms of the amount learned. A further analysis of the first day's performance scores of the 10 high initial ability and the 10 low initial ability subjects from each of the two main groups found no differential effect of practice schedule attributable to initial ability level. Further, there was no significant ability levels by practice schedules interaction for learning. However, reminiscence was found to be related to ability level as low ability subjects reminisced significantly more than high ability subjects. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

The problem of this study is the development of a program for reporting pupil progress to parents in the San Pablo Elementary School District. In question form the problem may be stated: “What program of reporting pupil progress would more effectively meet the needs of pupils, parents, teachers, and administrators in the San Pablo Elementary School District?”

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Education in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Education in the Department of Philosophy of Education at the University of Zululand, 1996. / The researcher sought to investigate the effect of undernutrition on the learning ability of primary school pupils in the Esikhawini and Kwa-Dlangezwa areas in the district of Empangeni in Kwa Zulu Natal. This study has six chapters. In chapter one the researcher introduces this report and mentions the significance of the study and the plan as to how the study will be carried out. Chapter two and chapter three are both based on research that other researchers have conducted on this topic. It is therefore background information. The researcher exposes the relationship that exists between undernutrition and intellectual development, how the learning ability is affected by undernutrition, for example, pupils who come to school having not had breakfast. Two methods were used in this study, viz literature review and empirical study. Literature review formed the basis of the study whereafter questionnaires were designed. Chapter four details the methodology used to collect data. In chapter five the data is analysed and interpreted whereas in chapter six the researcher summarises the study and makes conclusions and recommendations. This study confirmed that undernutrition impacts negatively on the learning ability of primary school pupils. The study showed that the teachers and pupils regard breakfast as the most important meal because pupils were found to perform better in class when they have eaten breakfast. The learning ability is generally affected when pupils have not eaten food. The study also revealed that most pupils do not bring lunch boxes to school, but they bring money to school so that they can buy something to eat. Teachers showed concern on the food items that pupils buy. They stated that it does not provide the necessary-nutrients for good nutrition. In conclusion, this study showed that the learning ability of pupils is affected by undernutrition, that is, by not getting enough food, especially breakfast and also nutritious food.

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published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Educational Psychology / Master / Master of Social Sciences