Date of Award

1985

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Abstract

This experiment was designed to examine the effects of conceptual tempo and modeling on performance of a serial motor task. There were 48 subjects, 10- and 11-years old males and females, classified as impulsive or reflective. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of three modeling groups or a control group. The modeling strategies included: silent-model, verbal-model and verbal-model with self-instruction. The task was a motor skill obstacle course in which both speed and errors were scored. Data were analyzed by a 2 x 4 (Cognitive Style x Model Type) MANOVA with the number of trials to criterion, the average number of errors per trial, and the average amount of time on the three trials after criterion as the dependent variables. Appropriate follow-up analyses were computed. The results indicated that reflective children performed more accurately (took fewer trials to criterion and made fewer errors per trial) than did impulsive children. There were no differences in the time scores of reflectives and impulsives. More importantly a cognitive style x model type interaction revealed that student characteristics play a role in the modeling process. More in that impulsive children made significantly more errors than reflective children when performing without a model. Further, the impulsives performed equally as well after observing a silent- or verbal-model, or after observing a verbal-model and participating in self-instruction. The reflective children performed equally as well after observing a silent- or verbal-model and slightly better with a verbal-model plus self-instruction. It was concluded that the modeling process is essential for the impulsive and should be adjusted in an attempt to make the learning environment compatible with the learning style of the child.

Pages

72

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_disstheses.4042

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