Abstract
Kindergarten and second grade children discovered items added to pictures more often and faster than items deleted from pictures. In Experiments 1a and 1b children experienced either four addition problems then four deletion problems, or four deletion problems then four addition problems. The problems were presented with pairs of pictures containing animals, children, adults, and things. Addition problems had an item added to the second picture; deletion problems had an item deleted from the second picture. In Experiment 2, children in one condition were instructed to name the important objects in the first picture of each problem. In another condition children were given a list of the important objects in the first picture of each problem by the experimenter. Control groups were not asked to create a list, nor given a list of the important objects. Children in the condition in which they named the objects performed superiorly to the children in the other conditions.
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We thank Principal Michael Stevenson and several teachers at the William W. Estes Elementary School (Asheville, NC) for their cooperation. Lin Barber of the Graphics Department of Unca prepared Figure 1; Irv Wiswall of the Computer Center of Unca prepared Figures 2 and 3. Helpful comments on earlier drafts of this paper were made by Lisa Friedenberg, Pamela Laughon, James S. Miller, C. Ruth Nallan, Kathleen A. Nallan, and two anonymous reviewers.
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Miranda, N., Jackson, L.S., Bentley, D.M. et al. Children Discover Addition More Easily and Faster than Deletion. Psychol Rec 42, 117–129 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03399590
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03399590