An investigation of childrens perceptions of story content as elicited by three modes of presentation:
the storyteller, the reader, the sound slide show
by Margaret Kernan Rolando
A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education
Montana State University
© Copyright by Margaret Kernan Rolando (1984)
Abstract:
This study attempted to determine if three different modes of presenting a Story--Storyteller, book and
reader, and sound slide show--represented different information potential by bringing different content
to children's attention. Ninety third graders from three elementary schools in Butte, Montana, during
spring 1984, were presented in small groups, with one of three presentations of the fairy tale, "The
Wild Swans" and administered a paper and pencil instrument to determine their perceptions of three
different types of content from the story—affective, inference and factual. This content had emerged
from preliminary investigation with students and an adult panel analysis of the story text.
Since there was no existing instrument to determine children's perception of the story content, a crucial
preliminary was the instrument development, which (though ancillary to the original intent of the
study) became a major portion of the research. As most similar cross-media research has utilized
individual presentations with followup interviews for data collection, this paper and pencil instrument,
more readily amenable to statistical analysis, proved a novel approach warranting further consideration,
especially with different age groups and reading levels.
Results indicated there was no statistically significant difference among the modes in affective content
in the foreground of attention, number of and overall inferences and factual recall. There was, no
difference in approximately eighty percent of the specific inferences. While no definite conclusions
about media differences could be drawn, the research process yielded some relevant observations: there
appeared more active student participation with book/ reader and sound slide presentations than with
the storyteller. The format of the sound slide show illustrations may have influenced those specific
questions evidencing response differences. Sound slide show and book/ reader presentations may not
differ enough to elicit different perceptions, although this bears further investigation.
The following cross-media research is also suggested: further research into the development of suitable
paper-pencil instruments; continued investigation into the possible differences in information potential
of different media, problem solving fostered, preferences related to learning style, long-term effects,
and delineation of specific media attributes. AN INVESTIGATION OF CHILDREN'S PERCEPTIONS OF
STORY CONTENT AS ELICITED BY THREE MODES OF PRESENTATION
THE STORYTELLER, THE READER, THE SOUND SLIDE SHOW
by
Margaret Kernan Rolando
A the sis submitted in p a r tia l f u l f i l l m e n t
of the requirements f o r the degree
of
Doctor of Education
MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY
Bozeman, Montana
December 1984
APPROVAL
o f a the sis submitted by
Margaret Kernan Rolando
This thesis has been read by each member of the the sis committee
and has been found to be s a tis fa c to r y regarding content, English usage,
format, c i t a t i o n s , b ib lio g ra p h ic s ty ld , and consistency, and is ready
fo r submission to the College of Graduate Studies.
Date
Dr. Hen^y Worrest
Chairperson, Graduate Committee
Approved fo r the Major Department
Date
Dr. Henty Worrest
Head, Major Department
Approved fo r the College of Graduate Studies
t-Z-tr
Date
Dr. Michael Malone, Graduate Dean
iii
STATEMENT OF' PERMISSION TO USE
In presenting t h i s the sis in p a r tia l f u l f i l l m e n t o f the require­
ments fo r a doctoral degree at Montana State U n iv e rs ity , I agree that
the Library shall make i t ava ila b le to borrowers under rules of the
L ib ra ry .
I fu r th e r agree th a t copying of th is thesis is allowable only
f o r scholarly purposes, consistent w ith " f a i r use" as prescribed in the
U.S. Copyright Law.
Requests fo r extensive copying or reproduction of
t h i s thesis should be referred to U n iv e rs ity Microfilms In te rn a tio n a l,
300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106, to whom I have granted
"the exclusive r ig h t to reproduce and d is t r ib u t e copies of the dis s e r­
t a t io n in and from m ic ro film and the r ig h t to reproduce and d is t r ib u t e
by abstract in any form at."
Si gnature
Date
V
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I
would l i k e to express my g ra te fu l appreciation to the fo llo w in g
people, without whose continued support and help t h is d is s e rta tio n
could not have been completed.
Dr. Henry Worrest, my doctoral com­
m ittee chairperson, has been a tru s te d advisor and constant source of
encouragement since the beginning of my doctoral studies.
Dr. Larry
Ellerbruch has motivated me to pursue c re a tiv e research and spent
long hours helping w ith my research design and s t a t i s t i c a l analysis.
Dr. Janis Bruwelheide has provided professional and personal support
and encouragement in the p u rs u it of my goals.
To these and to a ll the
s t a f f of the Montana State U n iv e rs ity Department of Secondary Educa­
tio n and Foundations and to. a l l my committee, I am g r a t e f u lly indebted.
My studies could not possibly have been undertaken and completed
w ithout the u n fa ilin g support of my fam ily and frie nds to whom I w i l l
always be g r a te f u l.
I e s p e c ia lly want to thank my c h ild r e n , Peter and
Anna, and my parents, Raphael and MaeKernan, fo r t h e i r tremendous
s a c r ific e s on my behalf.
I wish also to thank Butte School D i s t r i c t Number One, especially
Curriculum D ire c to r Dr. Tim S ullivan and former superintendent Mr. Bi 11
M illig a n , f o r supporting me in pursuing my doctoral studies and in
undertaking th is research, and a ll the students and s t a f f who p a r t i c i ­
pated in t h is study.
F in a lly , I want to thank Lee Dolan, my t y p i s t , f o r her consis­
t e n t l y exc e lle n t work on t h is manuscript.
vi
■TABLE OF CONTENTS
■
. Page
APPROVAL............................ ................ ................................................ ...............
ii
STATEMENT OF PERMISSION TO USE............ .....................................................
iii
VITA......................................................................................................................
iv
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS..................................... .........................................................
v
TABLE OF
CONTENTS...................
LIST OF TABLES...... ..........................................................................................
vi
ix
ABSTRACT............................ ...
x
1.
I
INTRODUCTION...............................
Statement of the Problem.........................................
Need f o r the Study......................................... .............. ............
Purpose of the Study.......................
Questions to be Answered.................................................
General Procedures.......................
D e lim ita tio n s and L im ita tio n s .....................
D e fin itio n of T e r m s .....................................
Summa r y ................................................................
2.
REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE.......................................
In tro d u c tio n .............................
H is to ric a l and Comprehensive Overview.........................
Findings of Educational Media Research and
Cross-Media S tudies...................
S pe c ific A ttrib u te s and C h a ra c te ris tic s of Media . . . . . . .
S to rie s , Language and S t o r y t e l l i n g . ...............................
L ite ra r y Genre - The Fairy T a l e . . . . ........ .................... .
Summary..........................................................
3.
PROCEDURES...........................................
In t r o d u c tio n ................................
Review o f the L it e r a t u r e .............................
Selection of the S to ry .............
Production of the Sound S lide Show........................................
Approaches P ilo ted fo r Analyzing the Story and
Developing the Instrument.........................
"Brainstorming" A n a ly s is .....................
Interview Approach...................... ........................ ; ...........
6
7
9
IO
11
13
14
17
20
20
21
24
.29
37
42
44
45
45
46
47
49
51
51
55
v ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ( c o n t i n u e d )
Page
4.
Analysis and Development o f Instrument from
the Text.......................... ....................................................
M ethodology................................................
Preparation of Story Presentation and Sound
SIide Show.......................................... ................ ..............
Story Analysis and Development of the In s tru m e n t..
Population and Sampling Procedures.............. .............
P i lo t of the I n s t r u m e n t . . . . . ..........................................
Experimental Treatment and Control fo r
Contaminating V aria bles....................................................
Data C o lle c tio n ...................................................................
Research Questions and S t a t i s t i c a l Hypotheses..................
Description of Independent and Dependent V a r i a b l e s . . . . .
Instrumentation and Analysis of the Data............................
Organization o f Data.................
P ilo t Data from Third Grade Classes............................
P ilo t Data from Sixth Grade Class..............................
Experimental Treatment Data—Part One: A ffe c tiv e
and N on a ffe ctive Content Choices..................................
Experimental Treatment Data--Part Two:
Inferences........................................................................
Experimental Treatment Data--Part Three:
Factual R e c a ll......................................'..............................
Permissions.....................................................................................
Summary......................
Chapter 3 Endnotes.......................................................................
65
66
67
69
69
70
70
71
STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF DATA...................................................
77
In tro d u c tio n ...............
Organization of Chapter Four...............
Overview o f P ilo t and Determination of R e l i a b i l i t y ........
Third Grade P ilo t Data.................
Part One - A ffe c tiv e Content.......... .....................
Part Two - Inferences.....................
Part Three - Factual R e c a ll.............................
P ilo t Data - Sixth Grade Students................................
Part One - A ffe c tiv e Content................................
Part Two - Inferences...............
Part Three - Factual R e c a ll..................................
Experimental Data.........................................................................
Overview...............
Part One - A ffe c tiv e Content..........................................
Part Two - Inferences........................................................
Part Three - Factual R e c a ll...........................................
Summary...................................................................................
Chapter 4 Endnotes.............................................................
77
78
80
81
81
83
84
87
88
88
89
92
92
93
95
100
102
105
56
59
59
59
61
63
72
72
73
73
73
76
viii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ( c o n t i n u e d )
Page
5.
DISCUSSION, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS.................
iok
In tro d u c tio n ..................................................................................
Organization.......... .............................. ........................................
Discussion of the P ilo tin g of the Instrument....................
Discussion of A ffe c tiv e Content in the Foreground
o f A tte n tio n ......................................................................... ..
Discussion o f Inference Questions..........................................
Discussion of Factual Content in the Foreground
of A tte n tio n ...........................................
Conclusions.........................................................
Observations and In te r p r e ta tio n s ........................................*.
Recommendations f o r Further Research.............................
Educational Im p lic a tio n s ...........................................................
Summary.............................................................................................
114
115
117
119
121
123
REFERENCES CITED.....................................................................................
125
APPENDICES.................................................................................................
130
Appendix A - P ilo t M a te ria l....................................................
Brainstormed Content........ ............. ..................................
A ffe c tiv e Content................................................................
Content from Guided Brainstorm ing...........................
Instrument Directoy from Text........................................
Instrument: Inferences about A ffe c tiv e C o n te n t...
Appendix B - Final Instrument and Story T e s t.. . . . . . . . . .
Final Instrument....... ........................................................
Story T ext...................................................................... ...
Appendix C - In s tru c tio n s to Treatment Group and L o g ...
Appendix D - Standardized Data on Comparable Student
: Groups....................... .. ................... ................ .
Appendix E - P e r m is s io n s .... ............................. ...................
106
107
108
110
112
131
132
135
137
140
144 ■
147
148
154
160
164
166
ix
'
LIST OF TABLES
Table
I
Page
Third Grade A ffe c tiv e Content Choices Pearson r
C orrelation C o e ffic ie n t.......... ,
..........................................
82
II
Third Grade P ilo t Inference Questions - Chi Square........
85
III
• Third Grade P i lo t Inference Questions - Chi Square
w ith Yates' C o rre c tio n ..................................................................
IV
V
VI
V II
V III
86
Third Grade Factual Recall Pearson r C orrelation
C o e f f i c i e n t . . .................................................................................
87
Sixth Grade A ffe c tiv e Content Choices Pearson r ■
C orrelation C o e ffic ie n t.........................
88
Sixth Grade Inference Questions Pretest to Post
Test - Choice "3" O m itted................................................
90
Sixth Grade Inference Questions Pretest to Post
Test - Includes Choice " 3 " ...........................................................
91
Sixth Grade Factual Recall Pearson r C orrelation
C o e ffic ie n t......................................................................
92
A ffe c tiv e Content Choices by Story Treatment D e s c rip tiv e s ...................
93
X
A ffe c tiv e Content Choices by Story Treatment - ANOVA. . .
94
XI
Students' t Test - Book and R eader/S toryteller
Comparison x Number A ffe c tiv e Content Choices..................
95
XII
Inference Choice to No Inference Choice by Mode.............
96
X III
Chi Square and Response Pattern - Inference'
Question #9............................................................................
97
Chi Square and Response Patterns - Inference
Questions #9, #12, and #15...............
98
XV
R e l i a b i l i t y o f Inference Questions #9, #12, and # 1 5 . . . .
99
XVI
Factual Recall by Story Treatment - D e s c rip tiv e s ............
101
XVII
Factual Recall by Story Treatment - ANOVA...........................
101
XVIII
Students' t Test - Comparison x Number Correct
Factual Recall Items......................................................................
IX
XIV
102
X
ABSTRACT
This study attempted to determine i f three d if f e r e n t modes of
presenting a S to r y - - S to r y te ll e r , book and reader, and,sound s lid e
show--represented d if f e r e n t inform ation p o te n tia l by bringing d i f f e r ­
ent content to c h ild re n 's a tte n tio n . Ninety t h ir d graders from three
elementary schools in Butte, Montana, during spring 1984, were pre­
sented in small groups, w ith one of three presentations of the f a i r y
t a l e , "The Wild Swans" and administered a paper and pencil instrument
t o determine t h e i r perceptions of three d if f e r e n t types of content
from the s to ry —a f f e c t iv e , inference and fa c t u a l. This content had
emerged from p relim ina ry in v e s tig a tio n w ith students and an adult
panel analysis of the story t e x t .
Since there was no e x is tin g instrument to determine c h ild r e n 's
perception of the story content, a c ru c ia l prelim inary was the i n ­
strument development, which (though a n c illa r y to the o r ig in a l in te n t
of the study) became a major po rtion of the research. As most s im ila r
cross-media research has u t i l i z e d in d iv id u a l presentations w ith fo llo w ­
up interview s fo r data c o lle c t io n , t h is paper and pencil instrument,
more re a d ily amenable to s t a t i s t i c a l an alysis, proved a novel approach
warranting fu r th e r con sideration , e s p e c ia lly with d if f e r e n t age groups
and reading le v e ls .
Results indicated there was no s t a t i s t i c a l l y s ig n if ic a n t d i f f e r ­
ence among the modes in a ffe c tiv e content in the foreground of atte n ­
t i o n , number of and o v e ra ll inferences and factual r e c a ll. There was,
no d iffe re n c e in approximately eighty percent of the s p e c ific i n f e r ­
ences. While no d e f i n i t e conclusions about media d iffe ren ces could be
drawn, the research process yielded some relevant observations: there
appeared more active student p a r tic ip a tio n w ith book/ reader and sound
s lid e presentations than w ith the s t o r y t e l l e r . The format of the
sound s lid e show i l l u s t r a t i o n s may have influenced those s p e c ific
questions evidencing response d iffe re n c e s . Sound s lid e show and book/
reader presentations may not d i f f e r enough to e l i c i t d if f e r e n t percep­
tio n s , although th is bears fu r th e r in v e s tig a tio n .
The fo llo w in g cross-media research is also suggested: fu rth e r
research in to the development of s u ita b le paper-pencil instruments;
continued in v e s tig a tio n in to the possible differences in information
p o te n tia l of d if f e r e n t media, problem solving fostere d, preferences
related to learning s ty le , long-term e ff e c ts , and d e lin e a tio n of
s p e c ific media a t t r ib u t e s .
I
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
There are indeed few s itu a tio n s in contemporary education which
do not incorporate some use of in s tr u c tio n a l media.
The use of these
media, whether 16 mm movies, f i l m s t r i p s , te le v is io n or audio record­
ings, is accepted as common pra ctice in most educational endeavors.
The influence of e le c tro n ic media is even more pervasive apart
from formal education.
As our world has been re volutio nized by
in c re a s in g ly common e le c tro n ic technologies, they have gradually come
to replace many o f t h e i r nonelectronic counterparts which, s u p e rfi­
c i a l l y , may have f u l f i l l e d some of the same ends.
For example, the
dive rsion and entertainment of the comic book, through the medium of
p r in t and i l l u s t r a t i o n , may be being replaced by the dive rsion and
entertainment of the te le v is e d "Saturday morning cartoons."
Children
were once exposed to nursery rhymes and f a i r y ta le s which are part of
our oral t r a d i t i o n through the medium of a " s t o r y t e l l e r , " or a reader
w ith a p ic tu re book.
parents.
Often th a t in d iv id u a l was one of the c h ild 's
Now i t is not uncommon to fin d a c h ild who has had only
te le v is io n or movie exposure to f a i r y ta le s and f o l k l o r e .
Smardo and
Curry (1982) have noted the wide range of presentation media, including
video and audio cassettes, cable t e le v is io n , film s and other formats,
now a ffe c ts even t r a d it io n a l story hours in public l i b r a r i e s :
"In
view of the increasing use o f (these) m edia...system atic in v e s tig a tio n
2
o f the impact of these methods of story hour presentation upon child re n
is needed" (1982:70).
And in the classroom, lis te n in g w ith one's peers
to the teacher read a chapter each day must now vie f o r space with
"hands on" computer time and videotaped productions in the crowded
school day.
The effectiveness of in s tr u c tio n a l media in the educational
s e ttin g has been examined through the la s t three decades by consider­
able research.
In surveying a number of studies both Schramm (1977)
and 01 son (1974A) have found the re s u lts to be inconclusive.
Huston-
Stein and Wright (1979), Salomon (1974A) and 01 son (1974) have pointed
out th a t these studies may have compared the d i f f e r i n g technologies as
technologies, ra th e r than comparing t h e i r c h a ra c te ris tic s or the way
they represent info rm a tio n .
This l a t t e r concept was popularized by
Marshall McLuhan (1964) who suggested th a t j u s t as a re lia nce on p r in t
may have affected people's co g n itiv e processing so also may people's
basic modes of th in k in g and t h e i r c o g n itiv e processing be affected by
the representational properties of e le c tro n ic technology.
I f th is is the case, the d is t in c t io n between media as they are
used f o r in s tr u c tio n a l purposes and as they are used in mass communi­
cation ( e . g . , commercial te le v is io n ) may be a r t i f i c i a l .
Salomon (1979:
388) suggests th a t "only a ft e r one has I earned about the psychological
e ffe c ts of unique, inherent a ttr ib u te s of media qua media can one ask
about t h e i r u t i l i t y f o r i n s t r u c t io n . "
He contends th a t i t is the sym­
b o lic , communicational diffe ren ces of media rather than t h e i r techno­
lo g ic a l differences which may make s ig n if ic a n t d iffe re n c e s .in le a rn in g .
3
Most media research has not addressed what aspects of the education
process are more amenable to c e rta in kinds of media (1977).
Salomon (1972A, 1979) and 01 son (1974) have hypothesized that
d if f e r e n t media represent d if f e r e n t "symbol systems," i . e . , d if f e r e n t
organizations of sets of symbols which s tru c tu re inform ation d i f f e r ­
e n tly and th e re fo re may represent d i f f e r e n t information p o te n tia l.
Huston-Stein and Wright (1979) also suggest th a t some formal features
o f a medium may be viewed as representing c e rta in mental s k i l l s or
operations and th a t a media presentation may supplant a new s k i l l or
c a ll upon an e x is tin g one, thereby a ffe c tin g the basic th in k in g pro­
cesses.
Researchers Huston-Stein and Wright (1979), Salomon (1979) and
Meringoff (1980) have attempted to address th is p o s s i b i l i t y .
In com­
paring the kind of inform ation child re n derive from d i f f e r e n t media
presentations of a s to r y , Meringoff (1980) found th a t those children
who were presented w ith a te le v is io n version had greater re c a ll of
actions and a greater re lia nce on visual content in drawing i n f e r ­
ences about the story than did those c h ild re n who were presented with
a reader and p ic tu re book version.
Conversely, the l a t t e r group had a
greater re c a ll of story language th a t eludes visual de piction and a
greater use of te x tu a l content and more outside story knowledge as a
basis f o r t h e i r inferences.
Gardner (1980) has c ite d research stemming from the same Project
Zero research at Harvard which supported M e rin g o ffs study in which
c h ild re n were s im ila r ly presented w ith book and reader presentations
and f i l m presentations.
The fin d in g s of these studies corroborated
4
M e r in g o f f s:
the children exposed to the book version remembered much
more of the story on t h e i r own and were b e tte r able to re c a ll informa­
tio n when they were cued.
The book c h ild re n were also able to recall
the precise wording and fig u re s of speech, whereas the te le v is io n
children tended to paraphrase the verbal info rm a tio n .
Children from
both groups made inferences about the story arid reached the same
conclusions, but the lin e of reasoning they used was d i f f e r e n t :
the
te le v is io n c h ild re n were l i k e l y to depend on what they saw, ra re ly
going beyond the visual info rm a tio n , whereas the book child re n were
l i k e l y to draw on t h e i r own or real world experience in making i n f e r ­
ences.
There were also notable diffe ren ces in the c h ild r e n 's concep­
t io n of time and space.
Most of the research has examined what Schramm (1977) has referred
to as the "big media," e . g . , in s tr u c tio n a l te le v is io n , 16 mm movies,
computer assisted in s tr u c tio n , those media which represent more sophis­
tic a te d technology, and concomitantly, a greater expense to the educa­
tio n a l consumer.
There have been few studies dealing w ith what Schramm
referred to as the " l i t t l e media," e . g . , f i l m s t r i p s , s lid e s , audio
recordings.
Yet these media are used extensively throughout education.
While there have been studies comparing a ttitu d e changes e l i c i t e d
by various media presentations, e . g . , C roft et a l . (1969), and w hile,
as Huston-Stein and Wright (1979) have pointed out, there has been
considerable research on the s o c ia liz in g aspects of mass media t e l e ­
v is io n , there have been few, i f any, studies th a t have attempted to
d i r e c t l y determine the effectiveness of d if f e r e n t media in tra n s m ittin g
emotional or a ff e c tiv e content.
5
The fo llo w in g , th e re fo re , is the background upon which t h is study
is based:
d if f e r e n t media may represent d if f e r e n t inform ation poten­
t i a l which may, w ith repeated, continual exposure, a ff e c t basic modes
of th in k in g and c o g n itiv e processing.
These media which transm it
inform ation may be p r i n t , t e le v is io n , ra d io , movies, f i l m s t r i p s , or
people.
For example, both a s t o r y t e l l e r and a reader w ith a pictu re
book are examples of media possessing p a r tic u la r a tt r ib u t e s through
which inform ation may be tra n s m itte d .
Audiovisual media are common­
place in many educational s e ttin g s and have, in some cases, replaced
reliance on more t r a d it io n a l media such as p r in t or l i v e presentation.
While research has attempted to determine whether or not audiovisual
media is e ff e c tiv e in teaching, there has been l i t t l e
research on
determining what, i f any, p o te n tia l f o r psychological e f f e c t , whether
on information processing, problem solving or a ffe c tiv e responses,
d if f e r e n t media presentations might have.
I t is possible, as Marshall
McLuhan (1964) has s ta te d , th a t the medium is the message:
th a t i s ,
the medium through which inform ation is conveyed may be more in flu e n ­
t i a l than the actual content th a t is tra n s m itte d .
However, as Salomon
( I 974A:393-394) has noted, t h i s hypothesis has received l i t t l e
in v e s tig a tio n :
actual
"When roughly the same idea is represented in two d i f ­
fe re n t symbol systems, is the same meaning obtained from the messages?
There are no cle a r research fin d in g s on t h i s p o in t."
Furthermore, most media research has focused on the "big media"
such as movies and in s tr u c tio n a l t e le v is io n .
There has been l i t t l e on
the simpler media such as f i l m s t r ip s and s lid e s . Yet these media pre­
sentations are commonplace in schools and many commercially produced
6
versions of s to r ie s , f a i r y ta le s and fo lk ta le s are now a v a ila b le .
For
example, the Caldecott Medal books which are chosen annually as the
best i l l u s t r a t e d c h ild r e n 's p ic tu re books published in the United
States (Arbuthnot and Sutherland, 1972) have been made in to a sound
f l i m s t r i p series by the Weston Woods Company of Weston, Connecticut.
I f these various media do represent d i f f e r e n t inform ation p o te n tia l,
then i t might be hypothesized th a t such d if f e r e n t presentations might
e l i c i t q u a lit a t iv e ly d i f f e r e n t responses from the viewers, and th a t
d if f e r e n t inform ation may be being brought to the foreground of the
audience's a tte n tio n .
For example, both Shannon (1979) and Ross (1980) suggest that
s t o r y t e l l i n g is a medium characterized by i t s richness in immediate
p a r tic ip a tio n and personal contact.
I t might be hypothesized that
personal contact is a s a lie n t a tt r ib u t e c h a ra c te ris tic of th a t medium,
and as such, i t might be an e ff e c tiv e tra n s m itte r of a ff e c tiv e content.
The determination of such a ttr ib u te s and the concomitant coding of the
inform ation they tra n s m it could be valuable to educational theory and
to the p ra c tic a l use of the various media.
Statement of the Problem
In consideration of the preceding discussion, t h is researcher has
inve stigate d whether or not d if f e r e n t kinds of content, i . e . , a ffe c tiv e
versus n o n a ffe c tive, number of and s p e c ific inferences, and factual
content, are brought to the foreground of t h i r d grade c h ild r e n 's a tte n ­
tio n by three media used in pu blic school language arts and l i b r a r y
programs—sound s lid e show, book and reader, and s t o r y t e l l e r .
7
The types of content were o p e ra tio n a lly defined and emerged from
an adult analysis of the s to ry .
Instrumentation to measure c h ild re n 's
perceptions of s a lie n t content was developed by th is researcher and
v e r if ie d by a regional language arts expert.
The three media represented what Schramm (1 977) has characterized
as the less elaborate or simpler forms of media which have received
little
in v e s tig a tiv e study.
One of these mediums, the sound s lid e
presentation, approximated the f i l m s t r i p version of a storybook presen­
t a t io n , a format now used in l i b r a r y and language arts programs.
t i o n a l l y , the review of the l i t e r a t u r e indicated l i t t l e
Addi­
or no research
in to the transmission of a ffe c tiv e content by these media.
Both prac­
t i c a l l y and th e o r e t ic a lly i t was considered valuable to determine i f
these media forms of a story brought to the p a r tic ip a n ts ' a tte n tio n the
same type of content.
Need f o r the Study
The need f o r th is study orginated in the in d ic a tio n s of media
researchers such as Salomon (1974A,, I 979), Olson (1979), Huston-Stein
and Wright. (1979), and Gardner (1980), who have suggested th a t media
research has produced inconclusive re s u lts because i t has not focused
on comparing d if f e r e n t a tt r ib u t e s which may code inform ation d i f f e r ­
e n tly and represent d if f e r e n t inform ation p o te n tia l.
This study
attempted to compare three media (sound s lid e show, book and reader,
and s t o r y t e l l e r ) on the a t t r i b u t e of type of content each medium
brings to the foreground of a tte n tio n .
S pecific types o f content
included a ffe c tiv e and n o naffective, inferences and factual content.
8
This study attempted to deal w ith ra ther narrow and s p e c ific
aspects of a more general and th e o re tic a l problem described by Salomon
(1979).
He suggested th a t research in to the educational effectiveness
o f media is inappropriate u n til the psychological e ffe c ts of the char­
a c t e r i s t i c a ttr ib u te s and representational q u a litie s of media can be
I
determined.
This consideration would seem to be important since audio­
visual media presentations are used in education and now cover the
gamut of the curriculum includ ing story and l i t e r a t u r e presentations
which often transm it values and/or a ff e c tiv e content.
Furthermore, as
A llen (1980) has pointed out, in s p ite of the use of media in the
schools, actual media education, i . e. , the development o f media l i t e r ­
acy s k i l l s , has a c tu a lly declined.
While t h is study has not d e alt d i r e c t l y w ith the construct of
symbol systems, i t has been t h e o r e t ic a lly based in part on the recog­
n it io n th a t researchers such as Olson (1974) have stated, i . e . , th a t
educational and psychological theory are lim ite d by the lack of a
theory o f the stru ctu re s pervading our environment and the cog nitive
consequences of being exposed to those symbols and t h e i r tra n s m ittin g
media.
D ir e c tly related to t h i s study was M e rin g o ffs (1980) suggestion
th a t i f a given medium brings s p e c ific kinds of story content to the
foreground of a c h i l d 's a tte n tio n ( f o r example, a ff e c tiv e or a c tio n ),
then w ith repeated exposure to th a t medium the c h ild may accumulate
experience w ith th a t kind of inform ation and may come to use and prefer
i t to other kinds.
9
A n c illa ry to these considerations was a problem th a t Schramm
(1977) has pointed out:
there has been l i t t l e
research on the simpler
media such as f i l m s t r ip s and s lid e s , which are nonetheless in prevalent
use in education.
This study has focused on three of the simpler media
forms—sound s lid e show, book and reader, and s t o r y t e l l e r —which may be
found in education, p a r t ic u la r ly in language arts and l i b r a r y s e ttin g s .
A d d itio n a lly , th is study has used two approaches to media research
not used c o n junctive ly in previous cross-media studies:
the use of a
paper and pencil instrument fo r data c o lle c tio n and the use of small
groups of subjects f o r the presentations.
M e rin g o ffs study (1 978),
f o r example, used in d iv id u a liz e d presentations and an in te rv ie w tech­
nique fo r data c o lle c t io n .
Smardo and C urry's in v e s tig a tio n (1982)
in to the effectiveness of d if f e r e n t story hour presentations on pre­
school c h ild r e n 's receptive language has more nearly approached the
kind of story s e ttin g th a t would be used in schools and l i b r a r i e s ,
s p e c if ic a lly presentations made to groups of c h ild re n .
The f e a s i b i l i t y
of a c tu a lly using groups of children in a normal school s e ttin g with a
paper and p e n c il, re a d ily administered instrument, has not previously
been in v e s tig a te d .
Purpose of the Study
This study attempted to in v e s tig a te whether or not there were
d iffe ren ces in t h i r d grade c h ild r e n 's perceptions of story content th a t
was brought to the foreground of a tte n tio n by three modes of presenta­
tio n :
a sound s lid e presentation (comparable to a f i l m s t r i p ) , a reader
and p ic tu re book presentation, and a s t o r y t e l l e r presentation.
10
The types of content included " a f fe c tiv e " and " n o n a ffe c tive" as
o p e ra tio n a lly defined, emerging from an analysis of the t e x t of the
s to ry .
Instrumentation to determine which type of content was brought
to the foreground of a tte n tio n was developed by the researcher and has
been delineated in the methodology section of Chapter Three, which des­
cribes the prelim inary research th a t was done p r io r to t h is study.
Questions to be Answered
This study attempted to answer the fo llo w in g questions:
1.
What are the fin d in g s of media research in the la s t three
decades relevant to understanding the e ffe c t of media on
inform ation p o te n tia l and c o g n itiv e processes?
2.
Does each of these kinds of media, a sound s lid e presenta­
t i o n , a reader and p ic tu re book presentation, and a s to r y ­
t e l l e r presentation, bring to the foreground of c h ild re n 's
a tte n tio n d if f e r e n t types of content?
a)
Do child re n perceive a ff e c tiv e or nonaffective content
to be s a lie n t in each of these presentations?
b)
Do c h ild re n viewing these d if f e r e n t presentations make
q u a n tit a tiv e ly and s p e c if ic a lly the same inferences
about content in the story?
c)
Is c h ild r e n 's re c a ll of factual content the same fo r
each type of presentation?
11
General Procedures
The fo llo w in g general procedures were used in th is study:
1.
The researcher conducted a review of the research relevant
to understanding the e ffe c t of d if f e r e n t forms of media on
inform ation p o te n tia l.
I n t e r d is c ip lin a r y research, speci­
f i c a l l y on c h ild r e n 's language development and the s tru c tu ra l
s ig n ific a n c e of s to r ie s , also was included.
This background
was used in developing the th e o ry , j u s t i f i c a t i o n and research
design fo r t h is study.
2.
The f a i r y t a le . The Wild Swans, i l l u s t r a t e d by Susan J e ffe rs
and re to ld by Amy E hrlich (Andersen, 1981), was selected fo r
t h i s study on the c r i t e r i a of genre, s u i t a b i l i t y fo r s to ry ­
t e l l i n g , com parability, q u a lity of the i l l u s t r a t i o n , size of
the book, and a u th e n tic ity o f the m a te ria l.
3.
A sound s lid e presentation of the book, narrated by the
s t o r y t e l l e r and using one hundred nine 35 mm s lid e s , selected
on t h e i r representation of the story lin e and a u th e n tic ity
in portraying the i l l u s t r a t i o n s of the book, was developed by
the researcher.
4.
During the f a l l of 1982, the researcher p ilo te d three
approaches to analyzing the story to delineate the content
and develop an instrument which would provide a measure fo r
the research questions.
Chapter Three.
These approaches are described in
On the basis of t h i s p i l o t i n g , one approach,
a content analysis and development of the instrument d i r e c t l y
from the t e x t , was selected f o r use in t h is study.
12
5.
The te x t of the story was submitted to a panel of three pub­
l i c school language a rts and/or English teachers fo r analysis
o f a ffe c tiv e and nonaffective content in the story t e x t .
6.
A th re e -p a rt instrument was developed by the w r i t e r .
The
f i r s t part consisted of questions about the type of content
in the foreground of a tte n tio n .
The second part consisted
o f inference questions about the s to ry .
tained factual re c a ll content.
The t h i r d part con­
The instrument was submitted
to a regional expert in the language a rts f i e l d to a u th e n ti­
cate the construct v a l i d i t y of the o p e ra tio n a lly defined
content and the ove ra ll face v a l i d i t y o f the instrument.
7.
The s t o r y t e l l e r selected for. the two l i v e presentations and
f o r na rra ting the sound s lid e show was chosen because of her
experience in drama and th e a te r groups, her experience in
working w ith child re n and her in te r e s t in and enthusiasm f o r
the study and s t o r y t e l l i n g experiences.
8.
The instrument was p ilo te d w ith two t h i r d grade classes and
one s ix th grade class from a school not used in the actual
study to determine the instrum ent's r e l i a b i l i t y ( s t a b i l i t y ) .
9.
Three schools from the nine elementary schools in the Butte
School D i s t r i c t Number One were determined comparable on
the basis of standardized achievement scores.
From each of
the three schools, a random sample of t h i r t y t h i r d graders
was selected.
The students were randomly assigned to one
o f the three modes of presentation.
There were ten in each
13
group w ith equal numbers of boys and g i r l s , except in one
school in which there were only fourteen t h ir d grade boys.
10.
The presentations were made to the groups in the spring of
. 1984.
Conditions fo r presentation were k e p t. as s im ila r
as p ra c tic a b le given the actual school s e ttin g s .
11.
The instrument was administered immediately fo llo w in g the
presentations.
12.
The re s u lts obtained were analyzed and reported in th is
study.
13.
Al I proper a u tho rization s and permissions were obtained
before the study was a c tu a lly begun.
D e lim ita tio n s and Lim ita tio n s
I
This study was r e s tr ic te d in the fo llo w in g ways:
1.
A m a jo rity of the sources f o r the review o f the l i t e r a t u r e
was obtained from the Renne L ib rary at Montana State Univer­
s ity .
Additional sources were obtained through i n t e r l i b r a r y
loan services and a personal l i b r a r y .
2.
A b i l i t y to draw ge neralization s from the fin d in g s was res­
t r i c t e d by the population th a t was sampled f o r the study.
Such r e s tr ic tio n s are appropriate and inherent to exploratory
research..
Future research w ith other population groups would
be recommended f o r increasing the g e n e ra lity of such findings
3.
While an attempt was made to choose a s u ita b le story fo r
presentation, the study was nonetheless lim ite d by th a t
s e le c tio n .
14
4.
The study was lim ite d by the s t o r y t e l l e r 's in te rp r e ta tio n of
the story and the inherent v a r i a b i l i t y in communicating th a t
in te r p r e ta t io n .
5.
While a serious attempt was made to produce a s lid e show of
comparable q u a lity to the other presentations, the d if f e r e n t
natures of the media precluded exact comparisons.
6.
The study was lim ite d to the types of content th a t were oper­
a tio n a lly defined and th a t were rated in the instrum entation.
7.
While an attempt was made to control fo r contaminating v a ria ­
bles during the presentations, the use of the actual school
s e ttin g and the nature of the d e liv e ry systems and the sub­
je c ts precluded complete control of a l l unforeseen v a ria bles.
D e fin itio n of Terms
Certain terms were considered in the fo llo w in g context:
Action Content,
(operational d e f .)
A phrase, sentence or
clause containing an action verb.
A f f e c t iv e .
P ertaining to or re s u ltin g from emotions or
fe e lin g s (The American Heritage D ic tio n a ry , s .v . " a f f e c t i v e " ) .
A ffe c tiv e Content,
(operational d e f.)
A phrase, sentence or
clause, e x p l i c i t l y s ta tin g an emotional reaction ( e . g . , was
h o r r if ie d ) or s ta tin g an action th a t is d i r e c t l y associated
w ith emotional reaction ( e . g . , "she wept").
Audiovisual Media.
Nonprint in s tr u c tio n a l m aterials designed
to teach through visual and/or auditory means (Davies, 1974:
461).
15
Brainstorm ing.
A method of shared problem solving in which
a l l members o f a group spontaneously co n trib u te ideas (The
American Heritage D ic tio n a ry , s .v . "b ra in s to rm in g ").
C ognition.
The act or process of knowing in the broadest
sense (Webster's Third New In te rn a tio n a l D ic tio n a ry , Una­
bridged, s .v . "c o g n itio n " ) .
C o g n itiv e .
Of, r e la tin g to , being, or in v o lv in g cognition
(Webster's Third New In te rn a tio n a l D ic tio n a ry , Unabridged,
s .v . " c o g n itiv e " ) .
D escriptive Content,
(operational d e f.)
A phrase, sentence
or clause th a t d e p ic ts , describes, without emphasizing action
or emotion; phrases th a t help draw a clea rer "mental p ic tu r e ,"
e . g . , metaphor, s im ile .
Formal A t t r i b u t e s .
A c h a r a c te r is tic p e rtain ing to the form
as opposed to the content of a s p e c ific medium; also re la tin g
to the form in which inform ation is coded in th a t s p e c ific
medium ( Huston-Stein and W right, 1979:23).
Genre.
A l i t e r a r y type or cla s s .
Works are sometimes clas­
s i f i e d by s u b je c t...b u t the more usual c l a s s if ic a t io n is by
form and treatment ( L ite ra r y Terms:
"genre").
In s tru c tio n a l Media.
A D ic tio n a ry , s .v .
P rin t and nonprint materials
designed to teach and/or accomplish educational o b je c tiv e s .
Mass Media.
The instruments of communication th a t reach
larg e numbers of people at once w ith a common message, such
as magazines, te le v is io n , radio (Davies, 1974:464).
16
Medium, p i. media.
A veh icle f o r conveying info rm a tion; an
agent fo r communicating ideas (Davies, 1974:464).
Nonaffective Content,
(operational d e f.)
A phrase, sentence
or clause th a t does not e x p l i c i t l y state an emotional
reaction or an action d i r e c t l y associated w ith emotional
re action .
In th is study, there were two subcategories of
o p e ra tio n a lly defined, nonaffective content:
action and
'
d e s c rip tiv e .
Operational D e f i n it io n .
"The concepts used...should be
defined through a s u f f i c i e n t l y accurate d e s c rip tio n of the
procedures used by the in v e s tig a to r in esta b lis h in g and
te s tin g them" ( Encyclopedia of Psychology, s .v . "operational
d e fin itio n " ).
R e lia b ility .
The extent to which in d iv id u a l differences are
measured c o n s is te n tly as determined by c o e ffic ie n ts of s ta ­
b i l i t y , th a t i s , the c o rre la tio n of a set of measurements
w ith themselves over a sp e c ifie d time period (Sax, 1980:630).
Symbol System.
A set of symbols organized to form a system
of in te rre la te d options th a t c o rre la te with a f i e l d of r e fe r ­
ence, such as language, music, numbers.
The d iffe re n c e in
the s tru c tu re of inform ation in these systems may be d is ­
cussed in terms of inform ation p o te n tia l which may be tra n s ­
mitted through various media (Olson, 1974:12, 13).
Theme,
(operational d e f ) .
A phrase, sentence or clause th a t
expresses what the story is about, i t s main p o in t, what i t is
t r y in g to t e l l about l i f e .
.1 7
Vali d i t y .
The extent to which measurements or items corres­
pond with c r i t e r i a .
In t h is case, the extent to which
measurements support the existence of an hypothesized t r a i t
or a b i l i t y (Sax, 1980:634).
Summary
Media research in the la s t three decades has yielded inconclusive
I
re s u lts , yet the use of audiovisual media in educational settin gs is
extensive.
Researchers Salomon (1974A, 1979), Olsori (1974), Huston-
Stein and Wright (1979), Meringoff (1980), and Gardner (1980), have
pointed to a need f o r studies which i d e n t i f y the a ttr ib u te s and spe­
c i f i c c h a ra c te ris tic s p e c u lia r to the various media.
These a ttr ib u t e s ,
which code and transm it in fo rm a tio n , may a ffe c t the th in k in g processes
and information coding of people c o n tin u a lly exposed to a p a r tic u la r
medium.
As Marshall McLuhan hypothesized (1964), the medium through
which the inform ation is transm itted may be more i n f l u e n t i a l than the
actual message or content i t s e l f .
L i t t l e research has been conducted on what Schramm (1977) termed
the " l i t t l e media," f o r example, s lid e s , f i l m s t r i p s , audio recordings.
Yet, these smaller and less expensive media are in common use in educa­
tio n .
A f i l m s t r i p version of a s to ry , f a i r y t a le or f o l k t a l e may
replace or supplement the teacher or l i b r a r i a n t e l l i n g the story or
reading i t aloud.
Many of these s to rie s intended fo r younger children
tra nsm it a t t it u d in a l and a ff e c tiv e content which, h y p o th e tic a lI y , might
be a lte red by the medium through which i t is conveyed.
The purpose of th is study was to in v e s tig a te whether or not there
were differences in t h i r d grade c h ild r e n 's perceptions of story content
18
th a t was brought to the foreground of a tte n tio n by three modes or pre­
sen tatio n:
a sound s lid e presentation, a reader and p ic tu re book
presentation, and a s t o r y t e l l e r presentation.
The l a t t e r two have been
characterized by the personal contact and immediacy o f the s t o r y t e l ­
l e r ' s or reader's presence.
I t was hypothesized th a t each medium could
bring d if f e r e n t types of content to the foreground of the c h ild re n 's
a tte n tio n and th a t th is could be re fle c te d in t h e i r perceptions of
s a lie n t content.
The subjects f o r the study were a sample of t h i r d grade students
drawn from Butte School D i s t r i c t Number One during the 1983-84 school
year.
A sound s lid e version of the chosen story was produced using the
i l l u s t r a t i o n s from the book and the voice of the s to r y te lle r /r e a d e r .
The story was presented to small groups of the subjects and t h e i r
perceptions o f s a lie n t content i d e n t if ie d with a researcher designed
instrument.
The fin d in g s of the research have been reported in t h is
study.
The lim it a t io n s inherent in the nature of the study i t s e l f i n ­
cluded the choice of the s to r y , the s to r y t e lle r / r e a d e r 's in te rp r e ta tio n
o f th a t s to ry , the inherent v a r i a b i l i t y in conveying th a t in te r p r e ta ­
t i o n , and v a r i a b i l i t y re s u ltin g from using real school s e ttin g s .
A d d itio n a lly , while a rigorous e f f o r t was made to produce a s lid e
presentation of comparable q u a lity to the s t o r y t e l l e r and the reader
presentations, the natures of the media precluded exact comparisons.
The study was lim ite d fu r th e r by the types o f content th a t were rated
in the instrum entation.
19
Generalizations from the study were r e s tr ic te d by the fa c t th a t
the sample was drawn from t h i r d grade students from a s p e c ific school
population.
The fo llo w in g terms, relevant to t h is study, were d e fin e d :
a c tio n , a ff e c t iv e , a ffe c tiv e content, audiovisual media, brainstorming,
c o g n itio n , c o g n itiv e , d e s c rip tiv e content, formal a t t r ib u t e s , genre,
in s tr u c tio n a l media, mass media, medium (p. media), n o n a ffe c tive con­
t e n t , operational d e f i n i t i o n , r e l i a b i l i t y , symbol system, theme, and
v a lid ity .
20
CHAPTER 2
REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
In tro d u c ti on
A review o f the l i t e r a t u r e relevant to th is study revealed the
fo llo w in g :
considerable research has been done on audiovisual media,
focusing on both general and educational considerations, and these
studies have generally yielded in c o n s is te n t and inconclusive re s u lts .
Current media research has focused on s p e c ific a ttr ib u te s and charac­
t e r i s t i c s of media, and cross-media comparisons are now being under­
taken to delineate the s p e c ific dimensions along which media may
d iffe r.
Research s p e c if ic a lly on s t o r y t e l l i n g or p ic tu re book presenta­
tio n s and types of story hour experiences has only recently begun;
w hile there is considerable research on c h ild re n 's conceptualizations
of s to rie s and t h e i r use of language, l i t t l e
of t h is research has
d ir e c t bearing on t h is study.
Consequently, t h i s review is organized as fo llo w s .
media research is tre ate d f i r s t .
three general categories:
Audiovisual
This to p ic has been subdivided in to
an h is to r ic a l and comprehensive overview of
the research and of media education; fin d in g s of educational media
research and cross-media studies; and research on the s p e c ific a t t r i ­
butes and c h a ra c te ris tic s o f media, e s p e c ia lly as these a tt r ib u t e s may
21
re la te to cog n itiv e processes and mental s k i l l s necessary to e x tra c t
inform ation from presentations.
The reader w i l l fin d considerable overlap among these categories.
However, they have been grouped together in an attempt to provide a
cogent th e o re tic a l background upon which t h i s research has been based.
Since there was a paucity of a r t ic le s th a t were genuine antecedents
to t h is study, i t was necessary to b u ild t h is th e o re tic a l basis on
re lated research and i n t e r d is c ip lin a r y concerns.
The l a t t e r part of t h is review o f the l i t e r a t u r e addresses the
research and th e o re tic a l concerns related to the use of s to r ie s , la n ­
guage and s t o r y t e llin g and the l i t e r a r y genre of the f a i r y t a l e .
H is to ric a l and Comprehensive Overview
Although a few studies of various media antedate the 1950's, most
media research has been conducted in the la s t three decades.
Huston-
Stein and Wright (1979), in discussing te le v is io n , have noted th a t
research has s h ifte d from the medium of te le v is io n to the content of
t e le v is io n :
during the 1950's the research focused on the medium
i t s e l f ; during the 1960's research was concerned with te le v is io n as a
s o c ia liz in g agent, e s p e c ia lly as i t related to violence; in the 1970's
other s o c ia liz in g aspects, such as the negative e ffe c t of a d vertisin g
and stereotypes, were examined.
The authors suggest th a t new research
examine the forms of the medium ra ther than i t s content, an idea f i r s t
popularized in the 1960's by Marshall McLuhan (1964) who suggested th a t
formal properties of audiovisual media might have profound e ffe c ts on
the basic modes of th in k in g and co g n itiv e processing.
22
Gardner (1980), who has also noted th a t the studies which have
been done on te le v is io n have fa ile d to t e l l us about the medium per se,
has proposed the fo llo w in g reasons fo r t h is deficiency in the research.
F i r s t , much i n i t i a l te le v is io n research made use of methodology a p p li­
cable to older forms of media.
Second, te le v is io n research has been
p r a c t ic a lIy rather than t h e o r e t ic a lly oriented because of s o c ie ty 's
concern w ith violence, commercials, and so on.
T h ird, since almost
everyone in t h is country has a te le v is io n se t, no v a lid comparison can
be made between people who have te le v is io n s and those who d o n 't.
One way media research can be categorized is according to purpose,
s p e c i f i c a l l y , media as a form of mass communication and media as an
in s tr u c tio n a l tool used to achieve some educational o b je c tiv e .
How­
ever, one current researcher indicated th a t th is may be an in a p p ro p ri­
ate d is t in c t io n :
"Only a f t e r one has I earned about the psychological
e ffe c ts of.unique, inherent a ttr ib u te s o f media qua media can one ask
about t h e i r u t i l i t y fo r in s tr u c tio n " (Salomon 1974:388).
Olson and Bruner (1974) have also theorized th a t such d is tin c tio n s
may be ina ppropriate:
they have noted th a t education has assumed th a t
knowledge was central to the educational en terprise and independent of
both the form of experience from which the knowledge was derived and
the goals fo r which i t was used.
They have theorized th a t d iffe r e n t
forms of experience may y ie ld nonequivalences, not so much in the knowl­
edge acquired but in the s k i l l s involved in e x tra c tin g or u t i l i z i n g
th a t knowledge:
"In s tru c tio n a l means converge as to the knowledge
conveyed but they diverge as to the s k i l l s they assume and develop"
(01 son and Bruner, 1974:149).
23
Schramm (1977) has reviewed and evaluated research in media
according to the type of d e liv e ry system, e .'g ., in s tr u c tio n a l t e l e ­
v is io n , programmed le a rn in g , s lid e s , ra d io .
He has noted th a t the
bulk of the research has been done on what he terms "big media," fo r
example, te le v is io n and computer assisted in s tr u c tio n .
studies have been conducted on in s tr u c tio n a l te le v is io n .
P rim a rily ,
There have
been fa r fewer on the " l i t t l e media," e . g . , s lid e s , f i l m s t r i p s , radio,
records.
Schramm has also noted a doctoral d is s e rta tio n by D. W.
S tic k e ll at Pennsylvania State U n ive rsity in 1963 which pointed to the
questionableness of the experimental design o f many media stud ies.
Of
250 experimental comparison studies (classroom in s tr u c tio n compared
w ith te le v is io n i n s t r u c t i o n ) , Stickwel I was able to fin d only ten
studies which he termed f u l l y in te rp r e ta b le , meaning th a t they had
met every requirement of a rather demanding standard.
F in a lly , Allen (1980) has noted th a t media education, popular in
the la te 1960's and early 1970's and a tt r ib u t a b le in part to the i n f l u ­
ence of Marshall McLuhan, has la rg e ly disappeared from pu b lic school
c u r r ic u la .
McLuhan's Center fo r Culture and Technology at the Univer­
s i t y of Toronto was closed in 1980.
The return to basics in education
movement reinforced the concept th a t mass media detracts from basic
lit e r a c y s k i l l s .
Media education, a f f i l i a t e d with the a rts and human­
i t i e s and i n t e r d is c ip lin a r y by i t s nature, has lo s t i t s c r e d i b i l i t y as
pu blic concern about diminished basic s k i l l s has led to a more compart­
mentalized and structured curriculum .
A llen (1980) has noted th a t a
ro le of education has been to provide students with the s k i l l s required
to process and u t i l i z e inform ation to t h e i r best advantage, and th a t
24
in an age of mass media and e le c tro n ic communication, media l i t e r a c y
ought s t i l l to be considered an important s k i l l .
As a counterpoint to t h is view o f media education. Morrow (1979)
has indicated th a t media education lo s t i t s impetus because McLuhan's
i
theories were d e te rm in is tic and n e g a t iv is tic in t h e i r view of human
p o te n tia l as being subject to the medium i t s e l f and because l i t t l e
research existed to substantiate any of the claims about media.
Findings o f Educational Media Research and Cross-Media Studies
Authors who have reviewed research relevant to education have
a rrived at d if f e r e n t conclusions.
Moldstad (1974) stated th a t studies
have la rg e ly compared r e la t iv e student learning outcomes when methods
incorporating in s tr u c tio n a l technology have been evaluated against
t r a d it io n a l methods.
In reviewing some t h i r t y studies covering various
forms of media, he concluded the fo llo w in g :
s ig n if ic a n t ly greater
learning re s u lts when media is inte gra ted w ith t r a d it io n a l in s tr u c ­
tio n a l methods; equal amounts of learning are accomplished in less
time when in s tr u c tio n a l technology is incorporated; multimedia i n ­
s tru c tio n a l programs based on a systems approach often f a c i l i t a t e more
e ff e c tiv e student learning than t r a d i t i o n a l in s tr u c tio n ; and students
usually prefer multimedia and/or a u d io - tu to ria l in s tr u c tio n a l programs
when compared to t r a d it io n a l in s tr u c tio n .
The reader should be cau­
tio n e d , however, th a t the t i t l e , "S e le c tiv e Review of Research Studies
Showing Media E ffective ness," indicates th a t a r t ic le s f o r inclu s io n in
the review may have been chosen because they did show the effectiveness
o f media.
25
Schramm (1977) has concluded th a t research shows media can teach
e ffe c tiv e ly .
Most of the research has been done on what he terms "big
media," p rim a rily in s tr u c tio n a l t e le v is io n .
w ith simple media.
Few studies have dealt
In s p ite of the fa c t th a t in s tr u c tio n a l te le v is io n
can t e a c h 'e ffe c tiv e ly , Schramm stated th a t there is no basis in the
research fo r saying th a t students do learn more or less from te le v is io n
than from classroom teaching.
Furthermore, review of the research
shows th a t the b e tte r the design the less l i k e l y the chance of fin d in g
s ig n if ic a n t or consistent diffe ren ces when comparing learning from
audiovisual media to learning from another in s tr u c tio n a l method.
These comparative studies have contributed l i t t l e to a theory of media.
Thus, Schramm concluded th a t learning is more affected by what is
delivered than by the d e liv e ry system i t s e l f .
In the in tro d u c tio n to the Seventy Third Yearbook of the National
Society fo r the Study o f Education e n t i t l e d . Media and Symbols:
The
Forms o f Expression, Communication and Education, e d ito r 01 son (1974)
stated th a t surveys of the research which compare d if f e r e n t treatments
such as f i l m versus p r in t versus l i v e teachers overwhelmingly showed no
s ig n if ic a n t d iffe re n c e .
He indicated the impact of educational tech­
nologies is e ith e r n e g lig ib le or perhaps unknown since we d o n 't know
how to assess the psychological e ffe c ts of the technologies or how to
adapt them to educational purposes.
Olson (1974:9) a]so stated th a t
research, both educational and psychological,
is severely lim ite d by the absence of a theory of the
s tru c tu re of the symbols th a t make up such an important part
o f our environment, the media th a t propagate those symbols,
and the c o g nitive consequences of exposing children to them.
26
Salomon (1978) has summarized the media research as in d ic a tin g the
fo llo w in g :
a l l media can i n s t r u c t .
Media may be interchangeable un­
less c r i t i c a l a tt r ib u t e s are emphasized.
And, media are composed of
d i f f e r e n t , d is t i n c t i v e elements, each element being a source of pos­
sible- v a r ia tio n .
Salomon has also emphasized th a t i t is essential to
get a deeper understanding of the components o f media and how these
operate under d if f e r e n t conditions to develop theories of media in
education.
In looking at d i f f e r e n t mental s k i l l s th a t are necessary to ex­
t r a c t inform ation from presentations, there e x is ts much research which
compares c h ild r e n 's developmental language a b i l i t i e s , i . e . , reading
as opposed to lis te n in g s k i l l s .
For example, D urrelI (1969) found
th a t lis te n in g vocabulary is greater than reading vocabulary at a ll
lower grade le v e ls .
By f i f t h grade reading comprehension reaches
ninety percent of lis te n in g comprehension and by eighth grade the two
a b i l i t i e s are equal.
While studies such as these are not real cross­
media in v e s tig a tio n s , they do in d ic a te the need to d if f e r e n t i a t e the
co g n itiv e s k i l l s required to process info rm a tion.
Paris and Mahoney (1974) have inve stigate d c h ild r e n 's de riv a tio n
and re tentio n of meaning from pictu res and from sentences.
In t h e ir
s tu d y , they presented the same re la tio n s h ip s e ith e r v e rb a lly or p ic ­
to r ia l ly .
Their re s u lts indicated th a t fo u rth grade c h ild re n could
c o r re c tly v e r if y more assertions about p i c t o r i a l Iy than o r a lly pre­
sented info rm a tion.
More s p e c ific to cross-media comparisons, Jerome Bruner (1964) has
theorized th a t in young c h ild r e n 's co g n itiv e development, learning and
27
problem solving s itu a tio n s re ly heavily on visual a tt r ib u t e s .
by Hayes and Birnbaum (1980) supports t h is theory.
A study
Their studies,
conducted to assess the degree to which preschool children and adults
remember the audio portions versus the video portions of popular t e l e ­
v is io n shows, indicated th a t c h ild r e n 's re tentio n of v is u a lly portrayed
events was c o n s is te n tly higher than t h e i r re tentio n of auditory events.
Adults, however, showed comparable re tentio n of the two types of
events.
Results indicated th a t preschoolers tend to ignore large parts
of the audio portions of c e rta in te le v is io n programs and pay greater
a tte n tio n to the visual aspects.
In another cross-media study by Rohwer and Harris (1 975), para­
graphs of prose were presented o r a l l y , in p r i n t , and in pictu res e ith e r
alone or in combination.
Results of the study indicated th a t the
degree of success w ith which inform ation is conveyed to child re n w i l l
vary according to the c h i l d 's background, the type of media presenta­
t i o n , the type of inform ation to be acquired, and the type of perform­
ance used to in d ic a te a c q u is itio n .
Performance in the combined media
c o n d itio n s , e s p e c ia lly oral and pictu res tog eth er, was superior to
performance of a sing le media condition f o r low socioeconomic black
c h ild re n .
However, the combinations of media were o f l i t t l e
'
be nefit
"
in the performance of high socioeconomic white subjects.
There have been few studies s p e c i f i c a l l y r e la tin g the e ffe c t of
media to a s u b je c t's emotional response.
Some research, such as th a t
by Franklin and Kemp (1980), has indicated th a t the use of audiovisuals
in the teaching of poetry may produce a greater a ffe c tiv e involvement
on the part of the student, which in tu rn may f a c i l i t a t e re tentio n of
28
c o g n itiv e m a te ria l.
Simonson, Thies and Burch (1979) have reviewed
experimental studies dealing w ith media and a ttitu d e s published in
AV Communication Review from 1953 to 1977.
been four trends in media a tt it u d e research:
They stated th a t there have
early studies examined
preferences and l i k i n g of media presentations; a second phase examined
changes in preferences; a t h i r d phase focused on a tt it u d e comparisons,
p a r t i c u l a r l y when mediated in s tr u c tio n was compared with t r a d it io n a l
in s tr u c tio n .
The current phase was id e n t if ie d as th a t of m e d ia /a tti­
tude in te ra c tio n in which media c h a ra c te ris tic s have been isolated and
compared to the variables of the I earner and the learning process.
They concluded the fo llo w in g :
a p o s itiv e l in k exis ts between learner
a ttitu d e s toward content inform ation and achievement; a preference
has been found fo r mediated in s tr u c tio n ; and the re la tio n s h ip between
media, a tt it u d e and achievement, i f any, has not been c le a rly estab­
lis h e d .
In a follow -up a r t i c l e , Simonson (1980) concluded th a t to
date there were no s p e c ific guidelines f o r generating a tt it u d e changes
through a use of media.
C ro ft et a l . (1969) examined a tt it u d e changes e l i c i t e d by two
id e n tic a l verbal presentations, one l i v e and one videotaped.
They
hypothesized th a t greater a t t it u d in a l changes would re s u lt from the
l i v e presentation because more cues would be ava ila ble from which
inform ation could be extracted.
Two hundred twenty in tro d u c to ry
sociology students from Brigham Young U n iv e rs ity were pretested to
id e n t i f y a ttitu d e s toward in t e r c o lle g ia te a t h le t ic s .
An attempt was
made to change the a ttitu d e s in a negative d ire c tio n since generally
p o s itiv e a ttitu d e s existe d.
Three treatment conditions were applied:
29
taped presentation, and a control s itu a tio n in which no persuasive
message was presented.
Results indicated the l i v e presentation pro­
duced s i g n if ic a n t l y greater a t t it u d in a l changes (pc.Ol) than did the
videotaped presentation, which in turn produced greater a t t it u d in a l
changes than did the control s itu a tio n (p <.0 2).
C o llin s (1970) examined the in te ra c tio n between media and age in
the learning o f material judged to be essential or nonessential to com­
prehending a media presentation.
His subjects, one hundred s ix ty nine
children in grades th re e , s i x , seven, and nine, were shown a media
presentation fo r which they were given no in s tr u c tio n to lea rn.
were tested afterwards on essential and nonessential content.
They
The
re s u lts showed th a t the learning of essential content increased as a
lin e a r function of age while the learning of nonessential content was
found to be a c u r v ilin e a r fun ction of age.
S pe c ific A ttrib u te s and C ha ra c te ris tic s of Media
As noted e a r l i e r , media studies have generally produced inconclu­
sive r e s u lts .
Salomon (1974), 01 son (1974) and Huston-Stein and Wright
(1979) have pointed out th a t perhaps the studies have compared d i f ­
fe rin g technologies and content ra ther than the c h a ra c te ris tic s and
a tt r ib u t e s th a t accompany the various media.
I t is to t h i s to p ic th a t
t h is section of the review has been addressed.
Huston-Stein and Wright (1979) suggested th a t some formal features
of a medium may be viewed as representing c e rta in mental s k i l l s or
mental operations: a media presentation may require a new s k i l l or
c a ll upon an e x is tin g s k i l l , operation or code.
These codes could
%
30
conceivably a ffe c t basic modes of th in k in g and cog n itiv e processing:
in d iv id u a ls exposed to a s p e c ific medium might adopt these codes in to
t h e i r own th in k in g .
They suggested research in the fo llo w in g areas:
d e lin e a tin g the formal features th a t a t t r a c t and hold a tte n tio n ;
ascertaining whether formal features are more or less important than
content in gaining and holding a tte n tio n ; and id e n tify in g any develop­
mental changes in the e ffe c ts of formal fea tures.
Huston-Stein and Wright (1979) c ite d a paper, "Discrepant Social
Communication," presented by F. R. Volkmar, E. L. Hoder and A. E.
Siegel at the March 1977 meeting of the Society fo r Research in Child
Development, which supported the predominance of auditory cues in
young c h ild re n :
a series of studies of c h ild re n , one to three years
o ld , showed th a t when visual and verbal cues from an adult dicta te d
c o n tra d ic to ry behavior, the young c h ild re n followed auditory cues more
often than the visual cues.
However, Hayes, Chemeski and Birnbaum
(1981) have found a visual s u p e rio rity e f f e c t , i . e . , a higher retention
of visual than auditory info rm a tion, under conditions of both in te n ­
tio n a l and incid e n ta l le a rn in g .
Huston-Stein and Wright (1979) noted th a t papers presented by
Gavriel Salomon and his colleagues at the U niversity o f Jerusalem
supported the hypothesis th a t the understanding of and a b i l i t y to use
common media codes increases with age and, to some ex te n t, experience.
Less experienced and younger viewers benefited more from those media
formats which supplanted re lated in t e lle c t u a l s k i l l s .
The work also
indicated th a t content messages were b e tte r comprehended when the
children understood the formats used to represent the contents.
31
In a paper noted by Huston-Stein and Wright (1979) presented to
the March 1979 meeting of the Society f o r Research in C hild Develop­
ment, "Recall of Television Content as a Function of Content Type and
Level of Production Feature Use," the authors C alvert, Watkins, HustonStein and Wright found th a t children benefited from s a lie n t formal
features (a c tio n , sound e ff e c ts , special visual t r i c k s ) , i . e . , these
features helped them remember c e n t r a l , theme-related content.
Further­
more, these s a lie n t formal features benefited kindergarten children
more than they did t h i r d and fo u rth graders.
I
Salomon (1974, 1979) has addressed the f a i l u r e o f research to
i d e n t i f y s ig n if ic a n t differences in what is I earned via various modes
o f p r e s e n ta tio n .. Schramm (1977:273) has said th a t while a l l media can
teach e f f e c t i v e l y , "lea rnin g seems to be affected more by what is
delivered than by the d e liv e ry system."
But Salomon (1974, 1979) has
contended the research has fa ile d to address media's most essential
c h a ra c te ris tic s :
i t s symbol systems.
A symbol system as defined by
Olson (1974:12, 13) is
a set of symbols so organized as to form a system of
in te rre la te d options which are correlated with a f i e l d of
reference, e . g . , language, music, numbers. This d iffe re n c e
in the s tru c tu re of inform ation in d if f e r e n t symbolic sys­
tems conveyed by d i f f e r e n t media may be discussed in terms
of inform ation p o te n tia l.
Salomon has indicated th a t the d i f f e r e n t symbol systems of media
c a ll fo r d if f e r e n t mental s k i l l s , which may in some cases be c u ltiv a te d
and tra n s fe ra b le and may also overlap.
The s p e c ific content q u a litie s
and the ways the inform ation is stru cture d and presented can be d i s t i n ­
guished.
"The point is th a t media of communication and in s tr u c tio n are
32
most e s s e n tia lly d is tin g u is h a b le from each other in terms of the symbol
systems one can best use w ith them" (Salomon, 1979:133).
S pecific to th is issue, e a rly research by Salomon (1972) addressed
the question of whether the a b i l i t y to v is u a liz e a c e rta in operation
and apply i t c o v e rtly to new instances can be improved by exposing a
person to a presentation which c o v e rtly supplants the vis u a liz e d opera­
tio n .
The studies s p e c if ic a lly focused on the zoom technique used in
film in g in which the focus is moved ra p id ly away from or toward the
photographic sub ject.
The re s u lts of t h e i r studies suggested visual
media can be used in in s tr u c tio n to supplant images of operations
useful to a tta in in g c e rta in goals, but not yet s a t i s f a c t o r i l y mastered
by the learners.
Another early study by Salomon (1974A), again using the zoom tech­
nique but also a technique of laying out or arranging s o lid o b je c ts ,
also led him to conclude th a t a media modeling, i . e . , f i l m i c modeling
o f a schematic operation, can lead to i t s in te r n a liz a tio n and thereby
improve the a b i l i t y to use the operations as a mental s k i l l .
Salomon's research (1977) has also found th a t when content is
held constant f o r messages, d i f f e r e n t formats of a medium, s p e c if i­
c a lly t e le v is io n , c a ll fo r d if f e r e n t mental s k i l l s .
Their studies
have also approached the question of c ro s s -c u ltu ra l d iffe ren ces and
the c u lt iv a t io n o f media s k i l l s (1977-ERIC, 1976).
They found that a
I i t e r a t e exposure to te le v is io n did c o rre la te p o s itiv e ly w ith the mas­
te r y of relevant mental s k i l l s and th a t such c o rre la tio n s were found
es p e c ia lly among younger c h ild re n .
Their research used the Sesame
Street te le v is io n program and Is r a e li and American child re n who had
33
been d i f f e r e n t i a l l y exposed to the medium of te le v is io n .
Salomon's
research led him to conclude th a t i t is the symbolic, communication^!
diffe ren ces o f media, ra ther than t h e i r technological d iffe re n c e s ,
which make the s ig n if ic a n t d iffe re n c e in lea rning .
Salomon (1974B) has also postulated th a t media can be conceived as
composed of three major components:
and the technologies of transm ission.
the symbol systems, the messages,
A d d itio n a lly , these in te ra c t
w ith the learner and the s p e c ific educational goal or ta s k .
He stated
th a t one can postulate th a t d if f e r e n t modes of inform ation e x tra c tio n
and processing are activated to the extent th a t d if f e r e n t media code
inform ation in d if f e r e n t ways:
one can ask whether or not the same
meaning is extracted when roughly the same idea is presented in two
d if f e r e n t symbol systems.
In ordinary experience, fo r example, a
film ed novel may convey a d if f e r e n t meaning from i t s w ritte n counter­
p a rt, and a play may convey a d if f e r e n t message when i t is read than
when i t is performed.
A study by Meringoff (1980) showed th a t there is a d iffe re n c e in
the kind o f inform ation children derive from d if f e r e n t media presenta­
tio n s .
The researcher compared c h ild r e n 's apprehension of an unfam il­
i a r story read to them from an i l l u s t r a t e d book or presented as a
comparable te le v is e d f i l m .
Forty e ig ht subjects, twenty fo u r w ith a
mean age o f seven and s ix tenths years and twenty fo u r w ith a mean age
o f nine and six tenths years, were randomly assigned to one presenta­
tio n or another and in d iv id u a lly presented the s to ry .
I t was hypoth­
esized th a t because te le v is io n can depict story actions dynamically
and concomitantly, behavioral features o f the story would be more
34
s a lie n t and the te le v is io n presentation would re s u lt in a greater
rfecalI of actions and a greater re lia nce on visual content in drawing
inferences 'about the s to r y .
In c o n tra s t, the book presentation might
allow fo r more auditory a tte n tio n to the t e x t , more re c a ll of story
language th a t eludes visual d e p ic tio n , and a greater use of textual
content and more outside story knowledge as a basis fo r inferences.
The children were measured on:
the re c a ll of o b je c tiv e informa­
t io n of the s to ry , a p ic tu re ordering task (which was an a lte r n a tiv e ,
nonverbal measure of an understanding of the story l i n e ) , the i n f e r ­
ences drawn from the story and sources used to substantiate those
inferences, and the viewing behavior of the subjects.
Results showed th a t child re n given the te le v is io n version exhib­
ite d a higher re c a ll of the story actions than those given the pictu re
book presentation (p < .0 5 ).
Conversely, the p ic tu re book presentation
e l i c i t e d greater re c a ll of the s to r y 's f i g u r a t iv e language than did
the te le v is io n presentation (p s.01).
As hypothesized, the older
child re n recalled more of the actions (p ^.0 1 ), f i g u r a t iv e language
(p.1.05), and dialogue (p^.01) than did the younger c h ild re n .
The
d if f e r e n t presentations were also corre la te d with the c h ild r e n 's use
o f d if f e r e n t kinds of inform ation as a basis fo r making inferences.
The te le v is io n story was associated w ith a s ig n if ic a n t l y greater use
o f visual inform ation as a basis fo r drawing inferences.
The book
presentation generally was associated w ith more use of other kinds of
info rm a tion.
The child re n exposed to the te le v is io n story u$ed more
physical gestures to i l l u s t r a t e t h e i r verbal r e t e l l i n g than clid those
presented the book.
35
Meringoff credited Salomon (1979) w ith a possible im p lic a tio n o f
her study:
I f a given medium brings s p e c ific story content to the fo re ­
ground of c h ild r e n 's a tte n tio n (th a t content emphasized being
a function of i t s own material p r o p e rtie s ), then children
repeatedly exposed to t h is medium may accumulate experience
w ith some kinds of inform ation more than others. They may
attend to i t , remember i t , in te r p r e t i t , use i t in problem
s o lv in g , perhaps even p re fe r i t to other info rm a tion. More­
over, they may be c u lt iv a t in g the p a r tic u la r co g n itiv e s k i l l s
required to e x tra c t t h i s inform ation from the symbol systems
in which i t is represented (M ering off, 1980:248).
Meringoff added a possible consequence:
children exposed p r i ­
m a rily to te le v is io n s to rie s may develop a strong s e n s i t i v it y to and
visual memory o f these s to r ie s ; child re n exposed more to less visual
media may fo s te r greater lis te n in g s k i l l s and may be able to apply
more self-generated knowledge in in te rp r e tin g t h e i r meaning.
M e rin g o ffs study was supported by Harvard's Project Zero.
Another Harvard researcher, Howard Gardner, has noted (1980) some
a d dition al supporting research.
Using f i l m materials developed by
Weston Woods Company, researchers presented children w ith a book and
reader or a f i l m version of a storybook.
The studies showed that
c h ild re n exposed to a book version remember much more of the story on
t h e i r own and are also b e tte r able to re c a ll inform ation when they are
cued.
He noted a s ig n if ic a n t d iffe re n c e th a t book c h ild re n can recall
precise wording and fig u re s of speech but th a t subjects exposed to the
te le v is io n version tend to paraphrase the verbal info rm a tion.
A d d itio n a lly , Gardner noted th a t both groups of c h ild re n make
inferences about the story and reach the same conclusions, but t h e i r
lin e of reasoning is d i f f e r e n t .
Book child re n tend to draw on t h e i r
36
own or real world experiences, whereas. te le v is io n children are l i k e l y
t o depend on what they see, seldom in f e r r in g beyond the visual informaI
tio n .
\
'
1
There are also notable diffe ren ces in the c h ild r e n 's conception
o f time and space.
Adults do not show thesd diffe re n c e s :
only modest
diffe ren ces are evident in t h e i r inference making process.
Gardner concluded:
In a l l , te le v is io n emerges as a much more self-contained
experience fo r c h ild re n , and w ith in i t s boundaries, the
visual component emerges as paramount. The book experience,
on the other hand, allows f o r greater access to the s to r y 's
language and suggests greater expanses of time and space.
Books may encourage readers to make connections w ith other
realms of I i f e - - j u s t as some b ib lio p h ile s argue (1980:113).
In summary, a review of the media l i t e r a t u r e points to the f o l ­
lowing conclusions.
The research has branched in d if f e r e n t d ire c tio n s
which include analyzing and assessing the fo llo w in g :
the e ffe c ts of
content, media as a s o c ia liz in g agent, the effectiveness of in s tr u c ­
tio n a l media, the effectiveness o f media in changing a tt it u d e s , and
the developmental diffe ren ces in attending and responding to the
various media.
More re c e n tly , media research has focused on formal
a tt r ib u t e s and symbol systems c h a r a c te r is tic of the s p e c ific media.
These a ttr ib u te s and c h a ra c te ris tic s may c a ll upon d i f f e r e n t mental
processes f o r inform ation processing.
Some w rite rs have suggested th a t w ith repeated exposure to a
s p e c ific medium an in d iv id u a l may gradually come to use the required
mental processes demanded by th a t medium more and more in his or her
own problem solving, and c o g n itio n .
by Marshall McLuhan in 1964.
This possible e ffe c t was suggested
Furthermore, most of the research has
been done on what might be c alled the "big media"—in s tr u c tio n a l
37
t e le v is io n , mass media t e le v is io n , computer aided in s tr u c tio n .
L ittle
research has been done on the " l i t t l e media" such as s lid e s , fIim s t r i p s , tapes, ra dio.
While there have been studies on the e ff e c t iv e ­
ness of media presentations in changing a ttitu d e s , there have been few,
i f any, on the effectiveness of d if f e r e n t media in bringing a ffe c tiv e
content to the foreground of a tte n tio n .
The l i t e r a t u r e indicates th a t
we are media consumers without being media I it e r a t e , i . e . , we have
little
understanding of the psychological and emotional e ffe c ts of
prolonged exposure to various media and we may be influenced by the
representational c h a ra c te ris tic s of the media as much as by the content
i t d e liv e rs .
These are the concerns th a t th is current research has
attempted to address..
S to rie s , Language and S to r y te llin g
There are a lim ite d number of a r t ic le s on s t o r y t e l l i n g and l i t t l e ,
i f any, s p e c ific research on the form of presentation.
However, there
is a large body of research on s to rie s and c h ild re n 's language develop­
ment.
Arthur N. Applebee (1978) has w ritte n a book. The C h ild 's Con­
cept of Story, Ages Two to Seventeen, in which he d e ta ils his and
others' research on the language processes children use when they hear
s to rie s and the l i n g u i s t i c and psychological factors organizing and
constraining t h e i r responses to the s to r ie s .
He has found th a t
child re n as young as two and a h a lf years old use language in s to ry - ■
t e l l i n g p a tterns, often assuming the s to rie s are about real people and
r
actual events.
As they mature, children gradually create s to rie s
which are more complex s t r u c t u r a lly and which involve s e ttin g s , actions
and themes outside t h e i r immediate experience.
I t is through th is
38
distancing of s to rie s th a t child re n are able to explore the conse­
quences of anxiety producing s itu a tio n s .
This theory is consonant
w ith B ettleheim 1S (1976) view th a t child re n can deal w ith emotionally
and e x i s t e n t i a l l y traum atic experiences through the vehicle of the
f a i r y ta le which in h e re n tly allows f o r a c h i l d 's distance from
tro u b lin g s itu a tio n s .
Brown and Smiley (.1 977) have used story re c a ll as a vehicle fo r
learning about the perceived organization and importance of story con­
te n t.
They found th a t child re n favor the central theme when recounting
s to rie s and disregard nonessential d e ta ils and th a t re c a ll e ffic ie n c y
is affected by the s tru c tu ra l importance of the story u n its .
Simi­
l a r l y , Johnson (1970), in a series of experiments, o b je c tiv e ly divided
verbal passages in to l i n g u i s t i c subunits according to acceptable pausal
locations and then had the l i n g u i s t i c u n its o b je c tiv e ly ordered
according to t h e i r importance to the s tru c tu re of the la rg e r prose
passage.
Subjects attempted verbatim re c a ll of a sing le prose passage
immediately a ft e r reading i t or a f t e r a s ix ty three day in te rim .
Results showed th a t the s tru c tu ra l importance of the l i n g u i s t i c units
was related to t h e i r r e c a ll.
Handler and Johnson (1977) have presented a report analyzing the
underlying s tru c tu re of simple s to rie s and examining the im plications
o f such s tru c tu re f o r r e c a l l .
They use the term “ story schema" to
re fe r to an ide alized in te rn a l representation of the parts and t h e i r
re la tio n s h ip s in the s to r y .
schemata from two sources:
They theorize th a t people construct story
from lis t e n in g to many s to rie s they develop
knowledge about the sequencing of events, and from experience, they
39
develop knowledge about causal re la tio n s and various sequences of
actio ns.
Schemata act as a general framework w ith in which d e tailed
comprehension takes place.
For example, i t d ire c ts a tte n tio n to cer­
t a in aspects of incoming info rm a tion.
The authors also the orize that
story schemata are used as a set of r e tr ie v a l cues; s p e c i f i c a l l y , when
one ca n 't remember an exact aspect of a s to ry , he reconstructs what
might have occurred.
Blank and Frank (1971) have also examined story re c a ll and lan­
guage a c q u is itio n in young c h ild re n .
S p e c ific a lly , they investigated
kindergarten c h ild r e n 's re c a ll of various s y n ta c tic transformations
under d if f e r e n t presentations and they looked at the re la tio n s h ip
between in te lle c t u a l fu n c tio n in g and l i n g u i s t i c performance by kinder­
garten c h ild re n .
They found th a t the more a c tiv e ly involved the sub­
j e c t was in the presentation, the b e tte r the r e c a ll.
One of the studies dealing with c h ild r e n 's language development
most relevant to the present research was an in v e s tig a tio n by Smardo
and Curry (1982) of story hours and receptive language.
Their research
is c le a rly a cross-media study, but i t is discussed in t h i s section
because o f i t s use of s to ry m a te ria l.
Their study concerned the e ffe c ­
tiveness of three kinds of pu b lic l i b r a r y story hour presentations on
the receptive language o f preschool c h ild re n from varying socioeconomic
le v e ls .
The three types of story hour presentations included l i v e ,
videotaped, and 16 mm f i l m .
The authors defined receptive language as
synonymous w ith auditory decoding and ac tiv e lis t e n in g , i . e . , the
a b i l i t y to comprehend or understand the language which is heard.
c h ild re n were divided in to fou r groups according to presentation:
The
40
Group One received a l i v e story presentation by a professional l i b r a r ­
ia n ; Group Two received a videotaped story hour program of Group One;
Group Three received a commercially produced 16 mm f i l m presentation
based on the books used in Groups One and Two; and Group Four, the
control group, received no experimental treatm ent.
Each story hour
session was approximately t h i r t y minutes in length and was conducted
once a week fo r s ix months.
Two instruments were used to measure the c h ild re n 's receptive
language:
a standardized te s t and a researcher contracted designed
instrument of story comprehension.
Results of the study indicated the
fo llo w in g order of effectiveness of presentations on a c q u is itio n of
receptive language s k i l l s as measured by the standardized te s t :
f i l m , video, and c o n tro l.
liv e ,
Thus, the story hour presentations were
e ff e c tiv e in improving receptive language s k i l l s as measured by the
standardized t e s t .
However, the data obtained by the other instrument
did not show any diffe re n c e s of story comprehension based on story hour
treatment groups.
S to r y t e llin g i t s e l f might be termed a fo lk a rt which.has ju s t
re cently been revived.
While s t o r y t e l l i n g w i l l never become an impor­
ta n t medium in a formal educational s e ttin g , i t s revival in society
indicates th a t among some groups, perhaps those disenchanted w ith the
technologies of mass media, i t may be a valued form of communication.
/
The study by Meringoff (1980) c ite d e a r l i e r , which compared c h i l ­
dren's apprehensions of an u n fa m ilia r story presented as a tele v is e d
f i l m or as a reader and p ic tu re book presentation, indicated th a t there
were s ig n if ic a n t d iffe ren ces in the c h ild r e n 's responses to comparable
41
story material presented in the two d if f e r e n t media.
p ic tu re book is not the same format as a s t o r y t e l l e r .
A reader and
However, the
observed diffe ren ces provided some support fo r the hypothesis that
there are s tru c tu ra l differences in the media and th a t these d i f f e r ­
ences, p a r t ic u la r ly the r e la tiv e v is u a liz a tio n , influence which content
is conveyed more e f f e c t i v e l y .
George Shannon, w r itin g in English Journal (1979:50), referred to
the s t o r y t e l l e r as
the ric h e s t audiovisual device a v a ila b le . A f i l m , a f i l m ­
s t r i p or recording may share the same subject m atter, but i t
is the s t o r y t e l l e r in person, sharing images d i r e c t l y , th a t
puts him above the r e s t. S to r y t e llin g f o r both the t e l l e r
and lis te n e r is one of the most personal of experiences.
S to r y t e lle r Ramon Ross (1972) theorized th a t across the gamut of
d a ily a c t i v i t i e s there is a re b irth of in te r e s t in keeping a liv e the
"humanness" of immediate p a r tic ip a tio n :
That sense of personal contact is lo s t somehow when we
view the most tale n te d e n te rta in e r on te le v is io n or watch
the grandly choreographed dance. Neither gives us the
same experience as being in the presence of a r e a l - l i v e
s t o r y t e l l e r or clasping hands w ith others in a simple
country dance. Marshall McLuhan was r i g h t . The medium
does a l t e r the message....Reassembling a performer out
of a p ic tu re c on sisting of tens of thousands of t i n y
points of l i g h t is not the same as s i t t i n g at the elbow
of a performer who responds to us, catches our thoughts
w ith him, warms to our laughter and holds our flag ging
in te r e s t (1972:4).
I f such diffe ren ces do e x is t among the coding prope rties of the
media, i t is perhaps unfortunate th a t less research has been conducted
on the simpler media, inc lu d in g the s t o r y t e l l e r and the reader presen­
ta t io n s .
Continual exposure to c e rta in forms may influence an i n d iv i d ­
u a l's perceptions and thought processes.
I f such is the case, the
42
determination o f what these e ffe c ts are could have considerable im p l i ­
cation fo r education.
L ite ra r y Genre - The Fairy Tale
L i t t l e or no experimental research e x is ts on l i t e r a r y genre,
although a large body o f research is emerging on the s tru c tu re of
s to rie s and the use of language in s to r ie s .
The l i t e r a r y genre of the
f a i r y ta le is treated t h e o r e tic a lly and p h ilo s o p h ic a lly and is included
in th is discussion because th e o re tic a l considerations were used in th is
w r i t e r 's choice of a story f o r the study.
The f a i r y ta le emerged from oral t r a d i t i o n of f o lk lo r e (Yearsley,
1929) and as such is p a r t ic u la r ly s u ita b le fo r s t o r y t e l l i n g .
Yearsley
noted th a t the actual d e liv e ry of f a i r y ta le s in th is oral t r a d i t i o n
was extremely conservative in th a t very l i t t l e
v a ria tio n existed in
words, gestures, a ctio ns, and fa c ia l expressions.
Thus, w hile some
v a r ia tio n would in e v ita b ly evolve through in d iv id u a l r e t e l l i n g over
generations, the s to r y 's essential elements remained the same.
Psychologist Bruno Bettleheim (1976) hypothesized th a t t r a d itio n a l
f a i r y ta le s , handed down o r a l l y , may be superior to contemporary chi I -.
dren's l i t e r a t u r e in t h e i r a b i l i t y to stim ulate and nuture the re­
sources needed fo r coping with d i f f i c u l t inner problems.
He stated
th a t contemporary l i t e r a t u r e provides info rm a tion, entertainment and
teaches about s p e c ific conditions o f modern l i f e , , but f a i l s to allow a
c h ild to c l a r i f y his emotions in a symbolic and s im p lifie d manner.
The f a i r y t a le presents universal problems and e x is te n tia l dilemmas
(lo v e , death, courage) sym bolically and allows the c h ild to fantasize
43
and ruminate on his own solu tions w ithout couching them in the concrete
and sometimes threatening r e a l i t y o f his actual expedience.
This
concept is consonant w ith Applebee's (1978) fin d in g s th a t children
experience distancing w ith t h e i r s to rie s as they mature, which allows
c h ild re n to explore the consequences of otherwise taboo s itu a tio n s .
Handler and Johnson (1977), in analyzing the underlying stru c tu re
of simple s to r ie s , have theorized th a t the story schema is used as a
set of r e trie v a l cues, th a t i s , when people c a n 't remember an exact
aspect of a s to ry , they reconstruct what might have occurred.
accounts f o r the re g u la riz a tio n of ir r e g u la r s to rie s over time.
This
They
note th a t f o lk t a le s , fa b le s , and myths have s im ila r and unusually c lea r
s tru c tu ra l c h a ra c te ris tic s .
S t o r y t e lle r Ramon Ross (1980) indicated th a t legends and migratory
ta le s , both part of the oral t r a d i t i o n from which fo lk ta le s spring, are
the representation of archetypes, th a t i s , thematic r e a l i t i e s , part of
the accumulated wisdom of humankind.
Archetypes such as love, death
and war are manifested sym bolically and are formed by centuries of
experience in the f o lk wisdom of a people.
Bettleheim (1976) has stated th a t a d is t in c t io n should be made
between o r a l, t r a d it io n a l f a i r y ta le s and l i t e r a r y f a i r y ta le s which
were popularized by Hans C h ris tia n Andersen.
The l a t t e r resemble oral
f a i r y ta le s in s e tt in g , c h a ra c te riz a tio n , social themes, and language
but are w ritte n by a sin g le in d iv id u a l.
C hildren's author Jane Yolen,
however, has implied th is d is t in c t io n is a r t i f i c i a l :
pure about a f o l k t a l e a f t e r a l l .
already.
"There is nothing
The oral story is a bastardized one
I t has on i t s body the thumbprints of h is to ry " (1978:702).
44
Bettle^eim (I 576), Yolen (I 978) and L1Engle ( I 978) have discussed
several prevalent m otifs in f o lk lo r e and f a i r y ta le s which contain
strong a ffe c tiv e content.
in t h e i r discussions:
The fo llo w in g are some th a t were included
the struggle of good versus e v i l ; the true
princess; the younger son; separation from loved ones; courage; the
th re a t and fea r of death; the quest; the transform ational ta le where
man becomes beast; and the happy ending.
These m o tifs , with t h e i r
p o te n tia l fo r carrying a ffe c tiv e content, have existed fo r centuries
in many d i f f e r e n t f a i r y ta le s and, as Yolen has pointed out (1977),
continue to e x is t today in popular te le v is io n cartoon characters and
space f i c t i o n heroes.
These aspects of the f a i r y ta le were considered
by th is researcher in the s e le ction of the story book used fo r th is
s tu d y .
Summary .
Chapter 2 presented a review of the l i t e r a t u r e relevant to the
background and th e o re tic a l considerations of media studies and theore­
t i c a l considerations of s to rie s and s t o r y t e l l i n g .
Because of the
exploratory nature of t h is research, t h i s review was somewhat i n t e r ­
d is c ip lin a r y in i t s approach.
The review included an overview ( h is ­
t o r i c a l and comprehensive), the fin d in g s of educational media research
and cross-media stud ies, a discussion of the l i t e r a t u r e th a t has dealt
w ith the s p e c ific a tt r ib u t e s and c h a ra c te ris tic s of media and a d is ­
cussion of s to r ie s , language and s t o r y t e l l i n g .
The chapter was con­
cluded w ith a discussion of the th e o re tic a l considerations of l i t e r a r y
genre and the f a i r y t a l e .
45
CHAPTER 3
PROCEDURES
In tro d u c ti on
Audiovisual media presentations are prevalent in most c h ild re n 's
experiences today, even, as noted by Smardo and Curry (1982), i n f l u ­
encing the tr a d it io n a l pu b lic l i b r a r y story hour.
Olson (1974) and
Salomon (1974, 1979) have hypothesized th a t d if f e r e n t media represent
unique systems which s tru c tu re inform ation d i f f e r e n t l y and may, th e re ­
fo r e , have various inform ation p o te n tia l.
Meringoff (1980) has sug­
gested th a t d if f e r e n t media bring d if f e r e n t content to c h ild re n 's
*
a tte n tio n and with repeated exposure they gain f a m i l i a r i t y w ith th a t
content and could come to p re fe r i t and use i t in problem so lv in g .
Schramm (1977) has stated th a t more research in the audiovisual
f i e l d has been done on what he c a lls the "big media" such as in tr u c tio n a l te le v is io n than on the " l i t t l e media" such as f i l m s t r ip s and
s lid e s .
Yet, the l a t t e r type is also used throughout education.
In considering these problems, th is study was designed to inves­
t i g a t e whether or not there are diffe ren ces in t h ir d graders' percep­
tio n s of story content th a t is brought to the foreground o f a tte n tio n
by three modes of presentation representative of the less elaborate
audiovisual media and tr a d it io n a l presentations:
a sound s lid e presen­
t a t io n , a reader and p ic tu re book presentation, and a s t o r y t e l l e r
p re s e n ta tion.
46
The procedures th a t were used are described in t h is chapter.
The
f i r s t section describes the review of the l i t e r a t u r e , the selection of
the s to ry , and the production of the sound s lid e show.
The second
section describes the p i l o t in g which was done to analyze the story and
develop the instrument.
Three d if f e r e n t approaches f o r the analysis
and instrument are discussed:
an aly s is .
brainstorm ing, in te rv ie w , and textual
The ra tio n a le f o r the f in a l choice of the story analysis
and development of the instrument are given.
The t h i r d section e x p li­
cates the methodology used in completing t h is study.
The chapter
concludes w ith a summary.
Review o f the L ite ra tu re
An i n i t i a l review of the l i t e r a t u r e was conducted during spring
1982.
The f i r s t phase of the review obtained a general overview o f the
f i e l d o f media research.
Studies relevant to the use of audiovisual
media in education, general trends th a t have developed in the la s t
three decades o f research and media education in the schools were
noted.
Sources used p r im a rily included Education Index, Psychological'
Abstracts and ERIC Documents.
The second phase of the review focused on research conducted p r i ­
m a rily during the la s t ten years and dealing w ith the c h a ra c te ris tic s
and a ttr ib u te s of media and i t s possible coding of inform ation as
symbol systems.
The doctoral d is s e r ta tio n , A Story, A Story:
The
Influence of the Medium on C hildren's Apprehension of S to r ie s ,
(M ering off, 1978) comparing apprehension of content of a te le v is e d
presentation as opposed to a book and reader presentation was used to
47
provide th e o re tic a l background and methodological design f o r t h is
stud y.
The l i t e r a t u r e review included th e o re tic a l and philosophical
a r t ic le s dealing with the o r ig in s , a t t r ib u t e s , thematic content, and
possible s ig n ific a n c e of f a i r y ta le s as a l i t e r a r y genre.
I t also
d e alt w ith the s t o r y t e l l i n g t r a d i t i o n as a f o lk a r t which has received
revived in te r e s t and which may possess c h a ra c te ris tic s valuable to the
transmission o f c u ltu ra l h e ritag e.
Selection o f the Story
The sele ction of a s to ry was based on considerations which include
a r tic u la te d c h a ra c te ris tic s th a t would make a story s u ita b le fo r such
a study and are s im ila r to those used by Meringoff in her study (1978):
genre, c o m p a ra b ility , a u th e n tic ity o f the m a te ria l, and f a m i l i a r i t y .
The f i r s t consideration was the type o f story to be used.
A fa iry
t a l e was preferred over other genre because of i t s possible potential
fo r conveying a ffe c tiv e content and because i t o rig inated from the oral
t r a d i t i o n which is p a r t ic u la r ly s u ita b le f o r s t o r y t e l l i n g .
Bettleheim
(1976) hypothesized th a t f a i r y ta le s may be superior to contemporary
l i t e r a t u r e in s tim u la tin g the inner resources which enable a c h ild to
c l a r i f y his emotions.
Through t h e i r symbolic representation of univer­
sal problems and e x is te n tia l m o tifs , they allow a c h ild to deal with
d i f f i c u l t and a f f e c t iv e ly threatening problems in an ab stract and safe
manner.
The f a i r y ta le "The Wild Swans" (Andersen, 1980) was chosen because
i t embodied some of the m otifs mentioned by Bettleheim (1976), Yolen
48
(1978) and L 1Engle (1978) as containing strong a ffe c tiv e content.
These included:
the struggle of good versus e v i l ; the tru e princess
and the younger son; separation from loved ones; courage; the fe a r and
th re a t of death; the quest; the transform ational ta le where man becomes
beast; and the happy ending.
The story is an adaptation by E rlic h ,
i l l u s t r a t e d by J e ffe rs , o f Hans C h ris tia n Andersen's version of the
Brothers Grimm "The Six Swans" (Grimm, 1963).
In the adapted version,
eleven brothers are turned in to swans by a cruel stepmother and t h e ir
s i s t e r E lise is banished from the palace.
A fte r a number o f years,
E lis e fin d s her brothers, who recount how they are transformed in to
w ild swans at daybreak and back in to human form each n i g h t f a l l .
Elise
is t o ld by a f a i r y th a t she can break the spell by k n it t in g eleven
s h ir t s f o r the swans from the f la x of s tin g in g n e ttle s and vowing
complete silence u n til the task is completed.
A handsome king finds
E lise and marries her but is eventualIy persuaded she is a witch and
should be put to death.
At the moment she is taken to the stake, she
completes her ta s k , throws the s h ir ts over the w ild swans and breaks
the s p e ll.
At the happy ending, she is reunited w ith her brothers and
w ith the king who now understands her p e c u lia r behavior.
Besides genre, the c r i t e r i o n of com parability had to be considered
in se le c tin g a s to ry .
The study required th a t s i m i l a r i t y e x is t between
the presentation of the s to r y 's content w hile employing c h a ra c te ris tic s
of each mode.
A p i l o t sound s lid e show was developed in May 1982 to
e s ta b lis h the successful ness with which the book could be transformed
in to th a t medium.
A d d itio n a lly , the rather large format of the book
(nine and th re e -fo u rth s inches by twelve and one-fourth inches)
49
enhanced i t s s u i t a b i l i t y fo r the reader and book presentation as the
subjects were able to see the i l l u s t r a t i o n s e a s ily .
,
A u th e n tic ity <?f the material was considered in choosing a s to ry .
Published story m aterials were considered preferable to nonpublished
because of the possible a p p l i c a b il i t y of the study's fin d in g s .
This
was the same reason M eringoff (1978) chose e x is tin g m aterials fo r her
study.
The question of f a m i l i a r i t y was addressed in s ele cting the s to ry .
While Meringoff (1978) thought u n fa m ilia r ity was im portant, i . e . , th a t
the children should have no p r io r exposure to the story in e ith e r f o r ­
mat, the preference of a f a i r y t a le f o r i t s a ffe c tiv e and archetypal
content obviated the use of a t o t a l l y u n fa m ilia r s t o r y .
However, the
story of the swans has not been as popularized as have some other f a i r y
ta le s , e . g . , C inderella and Snow White.
A d d itio n a lly , the chosen ver­
sion d i f f e r s in story lin e from the Brothers Grimm version (1963) and
is a recent p u b lic a tio n .
F in a lly , the choice of a f a i r y t a le is in
part posited on the f a m i l i a r i t y of m otifs which may sym bolically code
a ff e c tiv e content.
The researcher judged th a t the m otifs of the true
princess, the quest, the tra n sfo rm a tio n , and the happy ending would be
f a m i li a r to most child re n whether th a t exposure had come from the story
of the swans or another t a l e .
Production o f the Sound Slide Show
A p i l o t show was produced in May 1982 using approximately ninety
35 mm s lid e s selected f o r t h e i r representation of the story lin e and
t h e i r a u th e n tic ity in protraying the i l l u s t r a t i o n s in the book.
The
~1
50
e n tire te x t was read and taped and t h is na rra tion synchronized with the
s lid e s .
A b r i e f piano s ele ction from Debussy's "C la ire de Lune" was
added before and a ft e r the n a rra tio n .
Inaudible advance and dissolve
technique, whereby one p ic tu re fades in to another so there is no d is ­
c o n tin u ity on the screen, were used.
The duration of t h is version was
over twenty minutes and the researcher judged th a t not only was i t too
long fo r holding t h ir d graders' a tte n tio n , but i t also would make the
exact memorization of the story unduly d i f f i c u l t f o r the n a rra to r.
The text.was shortened during the f a l l of 1982 by the researcher
and an experienced s t o r y t e l l e r and elementary language a rts teacherJ
Two sections judged nonessential to the s to ry lin e and transmission of
a ff e c tiv e m o tifs and unnecessarily complicating were eliminated en­
tir e ly .-
The rest of the t e x t was condensed, making i t more amenable
to s t o r y t e l l i n g .
The researcher wanted the sound s lid e show to approximate a sound
f i l m s t r i p presentation as much as possible since the l a t t e r is preva­
le n t in audiovisual renderings of c h ild r e n 's l i t e r a t u r e .
Five recently
released f i l m s t r i p versions of c h ild r e n 's s to rie s were viewed.
sure time per frame and photographic techniques were noted.
time ranged from as l i t t l e
Expo­
Exposure
as f iv e seconds to as long as t h i r t y three,
w ith an average being approximately ten to twelve seconds.
The photo­
graphic techniques included f u l l page shots, closeups, flashbacks to
e a r l i e r p ic tu re s , and changes in v e r tic a l and horizontal o r ie n ta tio n .
The p i l o t s lid e show was revised during spring 1983.
Additional
s lid e s using close-ups and other techniques were taken, the dissolve
feature eliminated since f i l m s t r ip s do not have th a t a t t r ib u t e and the
51
shortened te x t used fo r n a rra tio n .
A new sele ction was made of one
hundred nine s lid e s representing the revised t e x t .
Exposure per s lid e
averaged about seven seconds and the to t a l length of time was twelve
and a h a lf minutes.
The music was l e f t only at the very beginning and
end of the na rra tion since i t could influ ence the students' preceptions
o f a ffe c tiv e content.
However, since most f i l m s t r i p versions of
s to rie s have music during at le a s t part of the t e x t , i t was judged
de s ira b le , both f o r i t s aesthetic q u a lity and a u th e n tic ity , to leave
in those b r ie f segments.
Approaches P iloted f o r Analyzing the Story
and Developing the Instrument
The fo llo w in g three techniques were explored during a p i l o t period
to determine the most appropriate approach fo r story analysis and
instrument development:
brainstorming, in te rv ie w and tex tu a l analysis.
"Brainstorming" Analysis
Purpose.
The purpose of the brainstorming technique was to deter­
mine the story content from the t e x t using children themselves to
analyze "what is the content?" and "what content is important?"
R ationale.
The child re n themselves should be able to t e l l what
the story is about.
Their perceptions of content and t h e i r actual
language could be used as a basis fo r developing the instrument.
This technique could avoid an a r t i f i c a l Iy academic or u n r e a lis t ic
approach to developing instrum entation.
Procedures.
Three sets of child re n w ith accompanying d if f e r e n t
procedures were used.
52
1)
The f i r s t set were the researcher's own two children (ages
s ix and ten at the tim e ) .
many times.
They had seen and heard the story
They were read the story and to ld to " t e l l
everything they could remember th a t was important about i t . "
Their responses would have to be considered contaminated;
however, the researcher thought they were important to i n ­
clude because w ith t h e i r repeated exposure to the story they
might be more attuned to the content th a t was being empha­
sized by the t e x t i t s e l f .
2)
The second group, a fo u rth grade class from Webster G arfield
School, Butte, was read the story during t h e i r l i b r a r y period
and encouraged to brainstorm f r e e l y .
and w ritte n down.
Responses were taped
Questions were nonguided although "what
. happened next?" was asked.
3)
The t h i r d group, also a Webster G arfie ld fo u rth grade class,
was encouraged to brainstorm but more directed questioning
was used.
Responses from t h i s group more c lose ly followed
the story lin e and seemed to be more d e ta ile d , but not sub­
s t a n t i a l l y d i f f e r e n t from those of the other group.
Analysis o f the Content.
The c h ild r e n 's responses were typed on
s lip s of paper to f a c i l i t a t e a n alysis.
The fo llo w in g types of
content, which would d is tin g u is h much of the story content, were.
o p e ra tio n a lly defined:
A f f e c t iv e .
A phrase, sentence or clause e x p l i c i t l y s ta tin g
an emotional reaction ( e . g . , "was h o r r i f i e d " ) or s ta tin g an
53
action th a t is d i r e c t l y associated w ith emotional reaction
( e . g . , "she w ept").
A c tio n .
A phrase, sentence or clause containing an action
verb.
D e s c rip tiv e .
A phrase, sentence or clause th a t depicts or
describes, without emphasizing action or emotion; phrases
th a t help draw a c le a re r "mental p ic tu r e ," e . g . , metaphors.
Theme.
A phrase, sentence or clause th a t expresses "what
the story was about," " i t s main p o in t," "what i t was try in g
to t e l l about I i f e . " x
The content was sorted by the researcher and two other adults in to
categories and an 89.7% agreement on placement in the categories
obtained.
See Appendix D f o r the actual items.
C ritic is m of This Approach.
The researcher did not th in k th a t
these brainstormed content items were p a r tic u la r ly amenable to i n ­
strumentation fo r th is study fo r the fo llo w in g reasons:
"Story content" as a construct can be viewed two ways:
f i r s t , as fragmentary b i t s , or second, as parts th a t carry meaning
or accomplish a purpose.
Using the f i r s t con struct, sentence
fragments or even c lu s te rs of words (such as "about a princess,"
"a wicked queen," "witches") would q u a lify as o p e ra tio n a lly
defined content.
Meringoff (1978) approached content in th is manner.
For ex­
ample, " f ig u r a t iv e language" was defined by the use o f words fo r
t h e i r form ally expressive p ro p e rtie s , aside from possible referen­
t i a l meanings.
"Dialogue" was defined as discre te clauses of
54
speech directed between characters, often preceded by "said" or
"answered."
Content thus defined can be quite fragmentary.
However, when content is viewed as accomplishing a purpose in
the story or carrying meaning, i t s length can vary but i t is no
longer fragmentary nor removed from context.
Most of the brainstormed content items were c la s s ifie d under
the f i r s t con struct:
they were fragmentary b its of information
th a t did not necessarily transm it meaning out of context.
To
determine, through the development and ad m inistration of an
instrument, which of these kinds of content are in the foreground
of a tte n tio n would be more the determination of fragmentary units
in the foreground of a tte n tio n than meaningful content.
Further­
more, the development of such an instrument would have required
the researcher to couch these brainstormed items in some sentence
context.
To do so would have departed even fu r th e r from the
story l i n e and added an addition al r is k of experimenter bias.
This study was p r im a rily concerned with " a f fe c tiv e " content
posited against " n o n a ffe c tiv e ."
The researcher wanted to deter­
mine whether a ffe c tiv e "messages" or aspects of the story are
brought more to the foreground of a tte n tio n with one mode of
presentation or another.
The im p lic a tio n s of t h is study could
have been severely lim ite d i f content were reduced to fragmentary
u n its , whereas the fin d in g s could be more generalizable and a p p li­
cable i f content were viewed as having meaning or accomplishing a
purpose.
The researcher judged th a t the student analysis of the
55
s to r y 's content as derived from the brainstorming was not amenable
to t h is more a l I -encompassing approach.
Interview Approach
Following M e rin g o ff1s approach (1978) to analyzing the story and
determining type of content in the foreground of the c h ild re n 's a tte n ­
t i o n , the researcher developed an in te rv ie w format, which ( t h e o r e t i­
c a lly at le a s t) could be used by s p e c ia lly tra in e d interview ers to
e l i c i t responses immediately fo llo w in g the presentations.
The story
would have f i r s t had to be analyzed fo r i t s content, and then the
c h ild interviewed to re la te back the content.
The number of content
references would be scored.
There were a considerable number of experimental variables re­
q u irin g control in th is approach:
the rigorous use of standardized
inte rview format, cues and probes; the exacting t r a in in g of in te rv ie w ­
e rs ; the number of interview ers required ( f iv e to te n ) ; and the r e l i a ­
b i l i t y in determining whether the c h ild 's response q u a lifie d fo r
g e ttin g the central idea of the content.
Nevertheless, one inte rview was conducted a ft e r a presentation of
the story to a second grade, class at the Butte Greely School.
The
youngster was most cooperative and her comments yielded some i n t e r ­
esting in s ig h ts in to the s to ry .
However, since the researcher had
determined th a t i t would be desirable to work with small groups of
students, since th a t r e fle c ts a real school s it u a tio n , the interview
technique w ith groups seemed un w ie ldly, and a paper and pencil approach
with c le a r ly defined answers p referable .
56
Analysis and Development of Instrument from the Text
Purpose.
The purpose of t h is analysis was to determine a ll r e fe r ­
ences to a ffe c tiv e content in the te x t o f the story and to posit
these against references to nonaffective content.
R ationale.
The ra tio n a le fo r th is analysis was th a t the story
t e x t i t s e l f contains a ffe c tiv e content which might be brought to
the foreground of a tte n tio n through one medium more than through
another.
Procedure.
The te x t of the story as i t was read to the students
was given to two adults who were t o ld to underline any word or
phrase th a t e x p l i c i t l y stated an emotional re action .
This would
determine the construct v a l i d i t y of a ffe c tiv e content delineated
f o r instrum entation.
While there was only a 60% o v e ra ll concur­
rence of choices between the two a d u lts , one adult simply under­
lin e d more content references than did the other.
Of the r e fe r ­
ences chosen by the f i r s t person, there was nearly 100% agreement
by the second person.
The te x t was then divided in to ten general sections such as
" s e t t in g , " "in tro d u c tio n of c o n f l i c t , " "beginning of the quest."
From each of these sections, an a ff e c tiv e reference was taken from
the te x t as a complete thought and posited against another com­
p le te thought by which i t was juxtaposed in the t e x t .
Most of
these a lte rn a tiv e s could be categorized as "action c on ten t."
(See Appendix D - Instrument D ir e c tly from Text.)
questions were developed th is way.
Nine such
57
In a second part of the instrum ent, seven questions were
developed to probe possible inferences about a ffe c tiv e content.
Most of these inferences were taken from the responses to the
"guided brainstorming" and were posited against a ff e c t iv e ly neu­
t r a l or a ff e c t iv e ly d i f f e r e n t ( e . g . , opposite) content.
F in a lly ,
f iv e factual re c a ll questions were included fo r a to t a l o f 21
questions.
P r e p ilo t .
I n i t i a l p ilo t in g w ith a group of students indicated
th a t using f u l l length sentences d i r e c t l y from the t e x t placed
undue s tra in on the c h ild r e n 's a tte n tio n span.
fin is h e d lis te n in g to the e n tire s to ry :
They had ju s t
being administered the
instrument was almost l i k e lis te n in g again to the s to r y .
For
th a t reason, the te x tu a l language in the instrument was compressed
(condensed) as much as possible w hile tr y in g to re ta in the authen­
t i c i t y of the language.
(See Appendix D - Instrument D ire c tly
from Text.)
S p e cific Purposes.
The researcher was p rim a rily inte reste d in
determining the fo llo w in g , which i f i t proved f r u i t f u l would be
refined in a f in a l instrument:
1)
The f e a s i b i l i t y o f administering t h is type of instrument
to t h i r d grade c h ild re n .
2)
Some cursory determination of the instrum ent's r e l i a ­
b ility .
3)
Some determination of whether the instrument could y ie ld
meaningful data.
58
Results o f the P r e p ilo t.
A t h i r d grade class of twenty f iv e
Webster G a rfie ld students was read the story and administered the
instrument immediately afterwards.
Response choices ( e . g . , a ffe c ­
t i v e versus action) were t a l l i e d f o r a l l questions.
Although the
instrument required reading a b i l i t y , the questions were read aloud
to the students.
There was no apparent problem w ith keeping the
c h ild r e n 's in te re s t throughout the a d m in is tra tio n .
The researcher had intended to readminister the instrument,
using a t e s t / r e t e s t design, in three weeks to determine r e l i a b i l ­
it y , i . e . , s ta b ility .
However, an intervening illn e s s resulted
in a lapse of nearly three months from te s t to re te s t.
students were used f o r the re te s t.
below.
Only ten
R e l i a b i l i t y re s u lts are shown
They were recorded as simple percentages of id e n tic a l
choices fo llo w in g a precedent established by Meringoff (1978) in
which percentage of same choices between independent ra ters was
used to determine r e l i a b i l i t y o f observations.
For example, in
Part Three a l l of the students responded to each question iden­
t i c a l l y to the way they responded on the f i r s t ad m in is tra tio n .
Total Precentage Same Responses Overall = 95.49%
Total Percentage Same Responses Part I (A ffe c tiv e /O th e r) =
89. 88%
Total Percentage Same Responses Part 11 (Inferences) = 94%
Total Percentage Same Responses Part I I I (Factual Recall) =
100%
Results of p r e p ilo tin g t h is prototype indicated the fo llo w in g to
the researcher:
59
Such an instrument had construct v a l i d i t y as types of content
were o p e ra tio n a lly defined and analyzed by a d u lts .
I t would
be fe a s ib le to administer t h is type instrument w ith th ir d
grade children without placing undue stress or demands on
t h e i r a tte n tio n .
F in a lly , such an instrument would have
r e l i a b i l i t y ( s t a b i l i t y over time) and po te n tia l fo r y ie ld in g
meaningful data when comparing scores of three d if f e r e n t
modes o f presentation.
Methodology
Preparation of Story Presentation and Sound Slide Show
A s t o r y t e l l e r was selected fo r the two l i v e presentation modes and
f o r n a rra ting the sound s lid e show. 2
The in d iv id u a l was experienced
in the atre productions and presentations with c h ild re n .
In preparing the presentation, the s t o r y t e l l e r was coached and
monitored by the researcher.
The in d iv id u a l memorized the te x t of the
story fo r the presentations.
She had access to the te x t to insure as
id e n tic a l presentations as possible.
The s lid e show was prepared in f in a l format using a taped nar­
ra tio n by the s t o r y t e l l e r congruent w ith the other presentations and
fo llo w in g the procedure used in i t s development.
Story Analysis and Development of the Instrument
.
The analysis of the story fo r o p e ra tio n a lly defined content was
based on M e rin g o ffs precedence of story analysis (1978).
However, a
60
three person panel and a regional language arts expert were used
instead of a single i n d iv i d u a l . 3
Three kinds of content—a f f e c t iv e , d e s c rip tiv e and action--were
id e n t i f i e d .
Panel members were in s tru c te d to read the story through
once f o r fa m ilia r iz a t io n and then mark a l l phrases or clauses th a t
c le a rly f i t the a ffe c tiv e content c r i t e r i o n .
Then they were to iden-j
t i f y an action or d e s c rip tiv e phrase or clause juxtaposed near the
a ffe c tiv e content.
A unanimously agreed upon phrase would autom atically be included
in the instrument.
Content items on which there was not unamimous
agreement and other items selected by the researcher were resubmitted
a second and t h i r d time as fo llo w s .
The t e x t was positioned alongside
the phrase to be i d e n t if ie d so the context was a v a ila b le .
Panel mem­
bers were in s tru c te d to label the s p e c ific content as i t was operation­
a l l y defined.
A two out of three agreement between panel members
q u a lifie d the item f o r in c lu s io n .
The instrument was then developed as fo llo w s .
Part I - Sixteen questions were included to determine c h ild re n 's
perceptions of s a lie n t content, a ff e c tiv e as opposed to nonaffectiv e .
A ffe c tiv e references as o p e ra tio n a lly defined and de ter­
mined by the panel were posited against nonaffective references.
As w ith the p r e p ilo t instrument, these textual references were
condensed.
The child re n were asked to id e n t if y which "seemed
most im po rta nt."
Part I I - This section determined c h ild r e n 's inferences about the
story content and included sixteen items which were based mostly
61
on the brainstormed responses completed during the p r e p ilo t phase.
Students were able to choose one of two inferences or the t h ir d
option of 111 d o n 't know."
Part I I I - Sixteen tru e and fa ls e items were taken from each part
of the story to determine factual re c a ll of content.
The content items f o r Part I and the e n tire instrument were sub­
m itted to a regional expert in the f i e l d o f language a rts fo r v e r i f i ­
cation of the construct v a l i d i t y o f the items in the instrument.
Population and Sampling Procedures
The population from which the sample was drawn was th a t group
id e n t if ie d as t h i r d grade students attending regular classes in three
o f the nine elementary schools in the Butte Public School System,
School D i s t r i c t Number One, during the school year 1983-1984.
At the
end of the 1982-1983 school year, three elementary schools were closed
and much of the c i t y r e d is t r ic t e d .
Of the three schools used in th is
study—Margaret Leary, Longfellow and Kennedy--Kennedy was more
affected than any other by the r e d i s t r i c t i n g since i t absorbed nearly
the e n tire Blaine population when i t was closed.
Margaret Leary was
affected in a d if f e r e n t manner as i t became the s ite of one of the
three cen tra lize d kindergartens.
Standardized achievement scores from School D i s t r i c t Number One's
te s tin g program— Stanford Achievement Test, Form E— (since th a t data
was av a ila b le f a l l 1983) were compared to determine i f these students
were comparable.
scores were used.
assessed tog eth er.
Total reading, lis t e n in g and lis te n in g comprehension
Data from Kennedy and the closed Blaine School were
The m a jo rity of the scores were in the same or
.62
adjacent stanine bands and were v e r if ie d by the D i s t r i c t Curriculum
D ire c to r4 as representing s im ila r populations.
Scores from the other
grade leve ls were also looked at to consider overall s i m i l a r i t y of
school populations (see Appendix D).
Third grade was preferred to other grade levels because of the
length and complexity of the s to ry , because the instrument required
some reading a b i l i t y and because i t was judged th a t above the t h ir d
grade there would be a d dition al r is k of the students' s o p h is tic a tio n
w ith story m aterials and media in flu e n c in g t h e i r responses to the
!
s to ry .
From each of the three schools, a random sample of f i f t e e n t h i r d
grade boys and f i f t e e n t h i r d grade g i r l s was drawn.
In one case, the
e n tir e population of fourteen t h i r d grade boys was used.
The random­
ized sele ction was accomplished through the use. of a computer program
w ritte n esp ecially fo r t h is purpose by the computer coordinator fo r
Butte School D i s t r i c t Number One and v e r if ie d by a regional expert in
the f i e l d of computer e d u c a tio n . 5
Substitutes were also randomly
chosen to replace absentees.
Total number of subjects were n in e ty , t h i r t y per treatment group.
This sample size was based on Spatz and Johnson's (1981) recommendation
th a t t h i r t y is a s u f f i c i e n t l y large number fo r the sampling d i s t r ib u ­
tio n of means to approach a normal curve, although they state th a t " i f
the population i t s e l f is symmetrical the sampling d i s t r ib u t i o n of the
mean w i l l be normal with a sample size much smaller than t h i r t y " (1981:
149).
63
Each school was given each kind of treatment group-sound s lid e
show, book and reader, and s to r y te lle r - - a n d each treatment was composed
of f i v e boys and f i v e g i r l s each, except one in which there were six
g i r l s and one boy.
Spache and Spache (1977) have c ite d research both
in reading readiness and reading achievement which in d ic a te the super­
i o r i t y o f g i r l s over boys in th is language a rts s k i l l .
While these
differences may be due to c u ltu ra l and teacher expectations, i t was
decided th is possible v a r ia tio n should be minimized in the present
study.
Therefore, in as much as possible, treatment groups contained
an equal number of boys and g i r l s .
Whereas Meringoff (1 978) presented the reader version and t e l e ­
vised version in d iv i d u a l l y , i t was judged th a t part of the condition
de sirable fo r the s t o r y t e l l i n g and the book and reader s e ttin g was the
shared experience.
For t h is reason, groups of ten were used fo r the
presentations.
P ilo t of the Instrument
A p i l o t of the instrument was conducted on two Webster G arfield
School t h ir d grade classes (a to t a l of fo rty -tw o students), which were
id e n t if ie d by the same c r i t e r i o n of standard achievement scores as used
fo r the groups from the three schools in the study. ' The book and
reader version only was used in the p i l o t .
During the p i l o t , the
instrum ent's r e l i a b i l i t y , i . e. , s t a b i l i t y over tim e, as defined by Sax
(1980), was determined.
Procedures f o r the experimental treatment and
f o r administering the data gathering instrument were also established.
A t e s t - r e t e s t design suggested by Ferguson (1981) to determine the
instrum ent's r e l i a b i l i t y was applied using a Pearson product-moment
64
c o rre la tio n c o e ffic ie n t as suggested by G uilfo rd (1973) and approxi­
mately a three-week intervening i n t e r v a l.
I n i t i a l re s u lts during the p i l o t phase indicated the necessity o f
determining whether or not a higher r e l i a b i l i t y could be obtained i f
the experimenter were the s t o r y t e l l e r .
A s im ila r pre and post te s t
design was used w ith three addition al t h i r d grade classes from two
other schools.
An examination of the data obtained from these three
a d dition al groups indicated not enough v a ria tio n in consistency of
response to warrant a s t a t i s t i c a l an aly s is .
I n i t i a l re s u lts of the p ilo t in g also indicated student responses
on the post te s t were influenced by t h e i r f i r s t exposure to the story
presentation.
Since i t was necessary to determine a r e l i a b i l i t y level
on the instrument i t s e l f , as opposed to student responses, two addi­
tio n a l steps were incorporated in to the design.
F i r s t , the t h i r d grade pi-lot students had the instrument adminis­
tered again, s i l e n t l y , w ith no story treatment at a l l .
Second, since
reading a b i l i t y could also contaminate student responses in th is retest
design, a class of seventeen s ix th grade students from the same school
was administered the story to read s i l e n t l y .
An in te rv a l of one week
was used in the re te s t design to minimize intervening contaminating
v a ria b le s .
Following t h is i n t e r v a l , the students were administered
the instrument to read and complete s i l e n t l y , with no story treatment.
Results from t h is design were used to obtain r e l i a b i l i t y c o e ffic ie n ts
f o r Parts One and Three.
Results from the various c on figuration s were
reported and discussed f o r Part Two.
Altogether, s ix d if f e r e n t groups
65
of students were used during the p i l o t phase, which was completed from
January through March of 1984.
Experimental Treatment and Control fo r Contaminating Variables
The subjects were randomly assigned to one of the three treatment
groups in which there were equal numbers of g i r l s and boys except fo r
one group, where an a d dition al g i r l was required.
E s s e n tia lly , the
treatments consisted of each group being presented w ith one of the
three versions under as s im ila r conditions as possible.
In s tru c tio n s
were provided at the beginning explaining th a t t h is was a p ro je c t to
I earn what the child re n th in k about s to rie s (see Appendix C).
A fter
the presentation was completed, students were allowed to stand up and
stre tc h to diminish fa tig u e , and questions about what the students
thought of the story follow ed.
P ilo tin g indicated the necessity of
creating as relaxed and spontaneous an atmosphere as possible fo r the
effectiveness of the presentations.
This was also necessary because
both the experimenter and the r e a d e r /s to r y te lle r were u n fa m ilia r to
the c h ild re n .
Contaminating variables were tre ate d in the fo llo w in g manner:
1)
Two l e t t e r s of in s tr u c tio n were sent to the teachers, one
general explanatory l e t t e r a few weeks ahead of time and
one l e t t e r of s p e c ific in s tr u c tio n s several days ahead of
the presentations.
Building p rin c ip a ls had discussed the
p ro je c t ahead o f time with the involved personnel.
2)
Teachers were requested to mention the story p ro je c t ahead
o f time to a le r t students to the schedule change and to
request students not to ta lk about the story experience
66
u n t il the end of the p r o je c t.
Because of a longer time
fo r two of the schools from re ceipt of the in s tru c tio n s to
the actual p r o je c t, teachers in those two bu ild ings were
asked again to remind students not to discuss the p ro je c t.
3)
The same room was used in each b u ild in g fo r a l l three presen­
ta tio n s except fo r one session which had to be moved to avoid
an unexpected in te r r u p tio n .
4)
Students were asked to be seated comfortably on the f l o o r .
5)
The presentations f o r each s p e c ific school were given on the
same day in the morning.
The order of treatment groups was
the same.
' 6)
The same in s tr u c tio n s were given each group.
P ilo tin g estab­
lished the necessity of creating comfortable rapport with the
students.
For th a t reason, in s tr u c tio n s were explained
rather than read verbatim, and as much eye contact as pos­
s ib le was maintained throughout.
Any deviations in the
in s tru c tio n s were noted in a log (see Appendix C).
7)
The s t o r y t e l l e r and the book and reader presentations were
standardized as much as possible by the s t o r y t e l l e r .
Data C ollectio n
A fte r completing the presentations, the subjects were administered
the instrument.
t a t io n s .
The s t o r y t e l l e r was not v is ib le during these presen­
The students were allowed to stand and s tre tc h to diminish
fa tig u e and to allow f o r passing out m a te ria ls .
The groups were given
the same in s tru c tio n s in a s im ila r manner to the i n i t i a l in s tr u c tio n s .
Any v a ria tio n s were noted in the log (see Appendix C).
67
The experimenter read aloud the questions and choices twice as
the students read s i l e n t l y .
Extreme care was taken to insure a stan­
dardized, nonbiased reading of the questions.
The subjects were asked
to check t h e i r papers to make sure they had answered.all questions.
Research Questions and S t a t i s t i c a l Hypotheses
1.
What are the find ings of media research in the la s t three
decades relevant to understanding the e ffe c t of media on
inform ation coding and inform ation po ten tial?
2.
Are there in d ic a tio n s th a t a sound s lid e presentation,
a
reader and p ic tu re book presentation, and a s t o r y t e l l e r pre­
sentation bring d if f e r e n t content to the foreground of
atten tio n ?
This question is discussed in the review o f the
l i t e r a t u r e , the discussion of the find ings of t h is study
and the conclusion and recommendations.
3.
Are there in d ic a tio n s th a t a ff e c tiv e content as opposed to
nonaffective content is more e f f e c t iv e ly brought to the fo re ­
ground of a tte n tio n by any one of the three named modes of
presentation? This question is discussed in the review of
the l i t e r a t u r e , the discussion of the find ings of th is study
and the conclusion and recommendations.
4.
Are there in d ic a tio n s th a t c h ild re n make more or fewer i n f e r ­
ences about story content based on, the mode of presentation?
This question is discussed in the review of the l i t e r a t u r e ,
the discussion of the fin d in g s of t h is study and the conclu■ sion and recommendations.
68
5.
Are there in d ic a tio n s th a t c h ild re n make d if f e r e n t inferences
about story content based on the mode of presentation?
This
. question is discussed in the review o f the l i t e r a t u r e , the
discussion of the fin d in g s of th is study and the conclusion
■ and recommendations.
6.
Are there in d ic a tio n s th a t c h ild r e n 's re c a ll of factual mate­
r i a l is based on the mode of presentation they have e xp eri­
enced?
This question is discussed in the review o f the
l i t e r a t u r e , the discussion of the fin d in g s of t h is study
and the conclusion and recommendations.
The fo llo w in g n u ll hypotheses were tre ate d s t a t i s t i c a l l y :
1.
H0 :
There is no d iffe re n c e in t h i r d grade c h ild r e n 's per­
ception of the type of content, s p e c i f i c a l l y , a f f e c t iv e ,
I
content as opposed to n o n a ffe c tive, th a t is brought to the
foreground of t h e i r a tte n tio n by three d if f e r e n t modes of
presentation: a s t o r y t e l l e r , a book and reader, and a sound
s i ide show.
2.
H0 :
There is no d iffe re n c e in the number of inferences
about story content made by t h i r d grade c h ild re n exposed to
three d if f e r e n t modes of story presentation:
a s to ry te lle r,
a book and reader, and a sound s lid e show.
3.
H0:
There is no d iffe re n c e in in d iv id u a l inferences mqde
about story content by t h i r d grade children exposed to three
d if f e r e n t modes of story presentation:
book and reader, and a sound s lid e show.
a s to ry te lle r, a
6 9
4.
H0:
There is no d iffe re n c e in t h i r d grade c h ild r e n 's
re c a ll of factual material based on mode of p resen tatio n-a s t o r y t e l l e r , a book and reader, and a sound s lid e show.
Description of Independent and Dependent Variables
The design of t h is study incorporated one independent v a ria b le ,
mode of presentation, w ith three le v e ls :
and sound s lid e show.
s t o r y t e l l e r , book and reader,
There were fou r dependent va ria b le s :
I ) per­
ception of s a lie n t content, a ff e c tiv e as opposed to n o naffective; 2)
number of inferences about content; 3) choice of inferences about
content; and 4) re c a ll of factual content.
Instrumentation and Analysis of the Data
The instrument was composed of three subsections which were sta­
t i s t i c a l l y analyzed i n d iv id u a lly .
The f i r s t subsection yielded a number f o r each subject of a ffe c ­
t i v e content choices in the foreground of a tte n tio n .
These were
to ta le d and a mean fo r each treatment group c alcu la ted .
A one-way
analysis o f variance was applied and s t a t i s t i c a l s ig n ific a n c e obtained
and reported.
No post hoc comparison te s ts were warranted by the
obtained s t a t i s t i c a l s ig n ific a n c e , but an in d iv id u a l t te s t was applied
f o r two group means.
The second subsection, inferences about story content, was
tre ate d two ways:
response choices one and two were to ta le d together
and compared to response choice thre e , i . e . , 111 d o n 't know."
A to t a l
o f response choices per in d iv id u a l were calculated and a mean per
treatment group obtained.
A one-way analysis of variance was applied
70
and s t a t i s t i c a l s ig n ific a n c e obtained and reported.
A d d itio n a lly , a
chi square te s t of independence was applied to each in d iv id u a l question
in the second subsection.
The t h i r d subsection yielded f o r each subject a number of correct
factual re c a ll choices.
These were to ta le d and a mean fo r each t r e a t ­
ment group c a lc u la te d .
A one-way analysis of variance was applied and
s t a t i s t i c a l s ig n ific a n c e obtained and reported.
No post hoc comparison
te s ts were warranted by the obtained s t a t i s t i c a l s ig n ific a n c e , but
in d iv id u a l t te s ts were applied to two sets of the group means.
Appropriate d e s c rip tiv e s t a t i s t i c s were also calculated fo r the
subsections and reported.
S t a tis tic s gathered during the p i l o t phase,
in clud ing Pearson product-moment c o rre la tio n c o e ffic ie n ts as a measure
of the instrum ent's r e l i a b i l i t y , have been reported along w ith appro­
p r ia te d e s c rip tiv e s t a t i s t i c s .
C alculations were made using a computer
program, SPSS, S t a t i s t i c a l Package f o r Social Sciences ( Nie, 1975),
a v a ila b le through Montana State U n iv e rs ity .
Al I research, p r e p ilo t to
completion, was done under the supervision of both the research super­
v is o r and the major advisor from t h i s researcher's doctoral committee.
Organization of Data
The data gathered during the p i l o t and the experimental phases was
organized and presented in the fo llo w in g manner.
P ilo t Data from Third Grade Classes
Parts one, two and three of the instrument were s t a t i s t i c a l l y
treated and presented separately.
71
D escriptive s t a t i s t i c s fo r Part O ne --a ffective content choices to
n o n a ffe c tive content choices—were recorded fo r p re te s t, post te s t and
post-post t e s t .
Pearson r , c o r re la tio n c o e f f ic ie n t , fo r pretest to
post t e s t , post-post te s t to. p re te s t, and post-post te s t to post t e s t ,
as well as a ll p r o b a b ility le v e ls and degrees of freedom were reported.
An in d iv id u a l t t e s t was also reported.
D escriptive s t a t i s t i c s fo r Part Two--number of inferences--were
recorded.
Inference to no-inference choice was compared overall using
a one-way ANOVA and in d iv id u a lly w ith chi squares.
Chi square te s t of
independence on each question was also recorded pretest to post t e s t ,
post-post t e s t to p re te s t, and post-post t e s t to post t e s t .
Probabil­
i t y lev e ls and degrees o f freedom were reported.
D escriptive s t a t i s t i c s f o r Part Three--factual re c a ll--w e re
recorded fo r p re te s t, post te s t and post-post t e s t .
Pearson r , corre­
la t io n c o e f f ic ie n t , f o r pretest to post t e s t , post-post te s t to pre­
t e s t , and post-post te s t to post t e s t , as well as a ll p r o b a b ility
le v e ls and degrees of freedom were reported.
Two in d iv id u a l t tests
were also reported.
P ilo t Data from Sixth Grade Class
Parts One, Two and Three of the instrument were s t a t i s t i c a l l y
tre ate d and presented separately.
>
D escriptive s t a t i s t i c s fo r Part O ne --a ffective content choices to
nonaffective content choices—were recorded f o r pretest and post t e s t .
Pearson r, c o r re la tio n c o e f f ic ie n t , f o r pretest to post t e s t as well
as p r o b a b ility leve ls and degrees of freedom were reported.
72
D escriptive s t a t i s t i c s f o r Part Two--IUimber of i nferences--were
recorded fo r pretest and post t e s t .
Inference to no-inference choice
was compared using a one-way ANOVA.
Fisher exact te s ts and chi squares
were used on in d iv id u a l inference questions.
Phi and contingency,
c o e ffic ie n t were also reported.
D escriptive s t a t i s t i c s fo r Part Thre e --fa c tu a l r e c a l l —were
recorded fo r pretest and post t e s t .
Pearson r , c o rre la tio n c o e f f i ­
c ie n t, fo r pretest to post te s t as well as p r o b a b ility le v e ls and
degrees of freedom were reported.
Experimental Treatment Data— Part One:
A ffe c tiv e and Nonaffective Content Choices
D escriptive s t a t i s t i c s , in c lud ing mean number of a ffe c tiv e choices
per treatment group—s t o r y t e l l e r , book and reader, and sound s lid e
show—were recorded.
A one-way analysis of variance was applied and
p r o b a b ility level and degrees of freedom reported.
An in d iv id u a l t
t e s t between one set of group means was reported.
Experimental Treatment Data— Part Two:
Inferences
D escriptive s t a t i s t i c s were reported.
These included a mean num­
ber of responses per treatment group-^number of inferences compared to
choice of no inference.
A one-way analysis of variance was applied and
p r o b a b ility level and degrees of freedom reported.
An in d iv id u a l chi
square was reported as warranted f o r one question.
Chi square te s ts of
independence and Fisher exact t e s t s , comparing inference choices by
treatment g r o u p - - s to r y te lle r , book and reader, and sound s lid e show—
were calculated and reported.
73
Experimental Treatment Da,ta—Part Three:
Factual Recall
D escriptive s t a t i s t i c s , in c lu d in g mean number of correct choices
per treatment g r o u p - - s to r y te lle r , book and reader, and sound s lid e
show--were recorded.
A one-way analysis of variance was applied and
p r o b a b ility level and degrees of freedom reported.
Individual t te s ts
between two sets of group means were reported.
Permissions
Al I required permissions, in c lu d in g permission from Dial Press to
use the book. The Wild Swans, and permission from School D i s t r i c t
Number One personnel, were obtained p r io r to conducting the study.
Summary
The purposes of t h i s study were I ) to discuss the fin d in g s of
media research relevant to understanding the e ffe c t of media on i n f o r ­
mation p o te n tia l and co g n itiv e processes; 2) to determine whether or
not there are in d ic a tio n s th a t a s t o r y t e l l e r presentation, a p ic tu re
book and reader presentation', and a sound s lid e show bring d if f e r e n t
content to the foreground of a tte n tio n ; 3) to determine whether or not
there a r e 'in d ic a tio n s th a t a ffe c tiv e content as opposed to nonaffective
content is more e f f e c t iv e ly brought to the foreground of a tte n tio n by
any one of the three named modes of presentation; 4) to determine
whether children make q u a n tita tiv e ly d if f e r e n t inferences based on the
mode of story presentation; 5) to determine whether child re n make
d if f e r e n t inferences based on the mode o f presentation; and 6) to
determine i f c h ild r e n 's re c a ll of factual material is d i f f e r e n t based
on the mode of presentation.
74
A f a i r y t a l e . The Wild Swans, by Hans C hristia n Andersen, adapted
by Amy E rlic h and Susan J e ffe rs (Andersen, 1981), was selected f o r
th is study on the c r i t e r i a of genre, s u i t a b i l i t y fo r s t o r y t e l l i n g ,
co m p a ra b ility , q u a lity o f the i l l u s t r a t i o n s , size of the book, and
a u th e n tic ity of the m a te ria l.
The t e x t of the story was shortened to
make i t more s u ita b le f o r s t o r y t e llin g w ith t h i r d grade c h ild re n .
Preliminary research indicated to the researcher the fo llo w in g
methodology fo r accomplishing the purposes of the study:
an analysis
of the t e x t of the story y ie ld in g types of content as o p e ra tio n a lly
defined was completed using a three-stage procedure and a panel of
three judges.
The judges were asked to determine o p e ra tio n a lly defined
content, and those content items fo r which there was not unanimous
agreement were re-evaluated by the panel.
A th re e -p a rt instrument was developed based on the prototype i n ­
strument from the p relim ina ry research, the story analysis and the
student brainstormed analysis from the prelim inary research.
Part One
of the instrument determined whether a ffe c tiv e or n o n a ffe c tive content
was in the foreground of a tte n tio n .
Part Two determined an overall
number of inferences and differences on in d iv id u a l inferences.
Part
Three determined re c a ll of factual m a te ria l.
A sound s lid e show con sisting of one hundred nine 35 mm slides o f
i l l u s t r a t i o n s from the book was developed by the w r it e r a f t e r viewing
and comparing techniques fo r commercially produced f i l m s t r ip s of
c h ild r e n 's l i t e r a t u r e .
The s t o r y t e l l e r , who was also the reader and
the na rra to r f o r the s lid e show, was coached by the researcher.
75
A random sample of ninety t h i r d grade students from three schools
in the Butte School D i s t r i c t Number One, 1983-1984, was selected fo r
the study.
ment groups.
Students were randomly assigned to one of the three t r e a t ­
A p i l o t of the experimental treatment and the instrumen­
ta t io n was administered to two t h i r d grade classes from a d if f e r e n t ,
but s im ila r , school.
The story t e x t was also read s i l e n t l y and the
questions answered by a group of s ix th grade students.
A te s t-re te s t
design incorporating Pearson product-moment c o rre la tio n c o e ffic ie n t on
the instrument was used to determine r e l i a b i l i t y .
For the actual study, the three experimental story treatments
were presented in a manner to minimize the e ffe c t of contaminating
v a ria b le s .
The instrument was administered and the data c o lle c te d ,
tabulated and analyzed.
A one-way analysis of variance was used to
analyze the three subsections of the instrument and chi square te s t
o f independence were applied to in d iv id u a l questions in the second
subsection.
76
C h a p t e r 3 Endnotes
William Ni kola, former second grade teacher at Irv in g School,
Bozeman, Montana, and current teaching a s s is ta n t. Department of
Elementary Education, Montana State U n iv e rs ity , Bozeman, Montana.
Bonnie S te fa n ic, Community Coordinated Child Care, B utte, Montana.
The panel was composed of language a rts and/or English teachers
from the Butte School D i s t r i c t Number One, 1983-1984: B i ll
M a t t io li , elementary reading teacher; Shelia Youngblood, Acceler­
ated Learners Program language a rts teacher; and Annette Giop,
ju n io r high school English teacher. Dr. Gerald S u lliv a n , Professor,
Reading Education, Department o f Elementary Education, Montana State
U n iv e rs ity , Bozeman, Montana, was the regional language arts
expert.
Dr. Tim S u lliv a n , Curriculum D ire c to r f o r Butte School D i s t r i c t
Number One, Butte, Montana.
The program was w ritte n fo r an Apple I Ie computer by Don Plessas,
computer coordinator fo r the Butte School D i s t r i c t Number One, and
v e r if ie d by Dr. Larry E lIerbruch, Associate Professor, Math Educa­
t i o n , Department o f Elementary Education, Montana State U n iv e rs ity .
77
CHAPTER 4
STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF DATA
In tro d u c ti on
This study was designed to determine i f three comparable presen­
ta tio n s o f,a s to r y —a s t o r y t e l l e r , a book and reader, and a sound s lid e
show—brought the same c o n te n t-ra ffe c tiv e , inference and f a c t u a l- - t o
the foreground of t h i r d grade c h ild re n 's a tte n tio n .
The study u t i l i z e d
a researcher designed instrument and small groups of students in an
actual school s e ttin g .
Third grade students, determined as comparable, from three schools
in the Butte School D i s t r i c t Number One, were randomly assigned to one.
o f three treatment groups and given the story presentations.
Presenta­
tio n s were made to groups of te n , equally divided by sex as much as
possible.
The instrument was administered by the researcher immedi­
a te ly a f t e r the presentation.
Prelim inary in v e s tig a tio n required as background fo r th is
research, analysis of the story and development of the instrument,
determination of comparable groups, determination of instrument r e l i a ­
b i l i t y and experimental procedures and data c o lle c tio n were described
in the preceding chapter of t h is study.
The s t a t i s t i c a l data collected
from th is study is reported and analyzed in th is chapter.
78
Organization of Chapter Four
Chapter 4 is organized around the presentation and discussion of
the fo llo w in g :
I.
P ilo t Data
1.
An overview o f the p i l o t as i t related to the concept of and
determination of instrument r e l i a b i l i t y .
2.
Third Grade Data.
These data focused on determining the
r e l i a b i l i t y of each subpart of the instrument.
1)
Part One - A ffe c tiv e Content.
i
A Pearson r c o rre la tio n
c o e ffic ie n t was used to obtain a r e l i a b i l i t y c o e f f i ­
c ie n t: p re te s t to post t e s t ; pretest to post-post; post
t e s t to post-post.
2)
Part Two - Inferences.
A chi square te s t of indepen­
dence was used as a measure of r e l i a b i l i t y on each
in d iv id u a l question:
p re te s t to post t e s t ; pretest to
po st-post; post te s t to post-post.
3)
Part,Three - Factual R ecall.
A Pearson r c o rre la tio n
c o e ffic ie n t was used to obtain a r e l i a b i l i t y c o e f f i ­
c ie n t:
p re te s t to post t e s t ; pretest to post-post; post
te s t to post-post.
3.
Sixth Grade Data.
These data also focused on determining
the r e l i a b i l i t y of each subpart of the instrum ent.
I)
Part One - A ffe c tiv e Content.
A Pearson r c o rre la tio n
c o e ffic ie n t was used to obtain a r e l i a b i l i t y c o e f f ic ien t:- p re te s t to post t e s t .
/
79
2)
Part Two - Inferences.
As a measure of r e l i a b i l i t y , a
chi square te s t of independence fo r a 3 x 3 contingency
ta b le was used.
A F ish er's exact t e s t , p h i, and corre­
la tio n c o e ffic ie n t were used fo r the 2 x 2 ta b le s .
3)
Part Three - Factual R ecall.
A Pearson r correlatio n,
c o e ffic ie n t was used to obtain a r e l i a b i l i t y c o e f f i ­
c ie n t: p re te s t to post t e s t .
II.
Experimental Data
1.
Part One - A ffe c tiv e Content.
D escriptive s t a t i s t i c s were
reported and a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used
to compare a ff e c tiv e content choices among the treatment
groups—book and reader, s t o r y t e l l e r and sound s lid e show.
A t t e s t was also used to compare mean number of a ffe c tiv e
content choices between the book and reader and the s to ry ­
t e l l e r modes.
2.
Part Two - Inferences.
D escriptive s t a t i s t i c s were reported
and a one-way ANOVA was used comparing the three treatment
groups on inference or no-inference choice.
A chi square
te s t of independence was used to compare each s p e c ific i n f e r ­
ence question by mode--book and reader, s t o r y t e l l e r and
sound s lid e show.
3.
Part Three - Factual R ecall.
D escriptive s t a t i s t i c s were
reported and a one-way ANOVA was used to compare correct
responses among the treatment groups--book and reader, s to ry ­
t e l l e r and sound s lid e show.
A t te s t was also used to com­
pare mean number of correct responses between the book and
80
reader and the s t o r y t e l l e r modes, and the s t o r y t e l l e r and the
sound s lid e show modes.
Chapter 4 concludes with a summary.
Overview of the P ilo t and Determination of R e l i a b i l i t y
Data were gathered on two groups of t h i r d graders ( f o r t y students)
to determine the instrum ent's r e l i a b i l i t y , i . e . , s t a b i l i t y over time,
as defined by Sax (1980).
A t e s t - r e t e s t design was applied as sug­
gested by Ferguson (1981).
In the f i r s t a p p lic a tio n of the te s t - r e t e s t
design, the story treatment (book and reader) was given both times.
three to four week intervening in te rv a l separated the sessions.
A
An
a d dition al re te s t using no story treatment was applied a f t e r examining
the re s u lts of the f i r s t sessions since the re s u lts indicated th a t the
story treatment i t s e l f might be a contaminating fa c to r in the re te st
s it u a tio n .
Approximately a month separated these l a t t e r sessions.
Each subsection of the instrument was s t a t i s t i c a l l y treated separately.
Results of the three sets of data gathered from t h i r d graders
did in d ic a te th a t the story treatment in the re te s t s itu a tio n was a
contaminating v a ria b le .
A d d itio n a lly , students' reading l e v e l, since
they were required to read the instrument, could mask r e l i a b i l i t y .
The age of the t h i r d grade children made i t too d i f f i c u l t to minimize
these fa c to rs .
Therefore, data had also been gathered on a class of
seventeen s ix th grade students.
Since the purpose of the p i l o t was
to determine the r e l i a b i l i t y of the instrument i t s e l f , i t seemed appro­
p ria te to create a s itu a tio n in which inte rven ing variables th a t could
mask r e l i a b i l i t y were minimized.
Since both memory and fo r g e ttin g are
81
forms of in te rv e n tio n , an attempt was made to balance these two, m in i­
mize the e ffe c t of reading level and elim in ate the variables of s to ry ­
t e l l e r e ffe c t and a d dition al treatm ent.
The s ix th graders were asked
to read the story s i l e n t l y and then respond s i l e n t l y to the instrument.
A week l a t e r , the students were again administered the instrument
s ile n tly .
I t was hoped th a t t h is form of the t e s t - r e t e s t design would
balance the period of time and te s tin g s itu a tio n s th a t were discussed
by Barr et al (1953) and G u ilfo rd (1965) as c o n trib u tin g to flu c tu a ­
tio n s in measures of r e l i a b i l i t y .
Third Grade P ilo t Data
Part One - A ffe c tiv e Content
Part One of the instrument yielded f o r each subject a number of
a ffe c tiv e content choices in the foreground of a tte n tio n .
Data were
colle c te d on f o r t y t h i r d graders to determine r e l i a b i l i t y of t h is sub­
sectio n, i . e . , s t a b i l i t y as defined by Sax (1980).
A Pearson product
moment c o rre la tio n c o e ffic ie n t (Pearson r) as suggested by G uilfo rd
(1973) was used in the tre a tm e n t/te s t-tre a tm e n t/re te s t design.
A
three to four week in te rv a l separated the sessions which were desig­
nated as pretest and post t e s t .
An a d d itio n a l te s tin g (but no t r e a t ­
ment) session was administered approximately a month l a t e r .
designated as post-post t e s t .
This was
A Pearson r was calculated pretest to
post t e s t , pretest to post-post and post te s t to post-post.
Results, pretest to post t e s t , w ith an n of 40, yielde d a Pearson
r c o rre la tio n c o e ffic ie n t = .4826 w ith an associated p r o b a b ility of
p^.OOl.
R esults, pretest to post-post, w ith an n of 35, yielde d a
82
Pearson r c o rre la tio n c o e f f ic ie n t = .3342 w ith an associated proba­
b i l i t y o f pj^.025.
Results, post te s t to post-post, w ith an n of 33,
yielde d a Pearson r c o rre la tio n c o e f f ic ie n t = .5165 with an associated
p r o b a b ility o f pjc.001.
See Table I .
Williams (1979) has c ite d G u ilfo rd (1956) as suggesting a corre­
la tio n of .4826- to represent a moderate c o rre la tio n and G uilfo rd (1965)
has emphasized th a t the c o rre la tio n is always re la tiv e to the s itu a tio n
under which i t is obtained and must be in te rp re te d in l i g h t of those
circumstances.
However, in p ra c tic e , r e l i a b i l i t y c o e ffic ie n ts are
usu ally expected to be in the upper brackets of r , i . e. , .70 to .98, a
c r i t e r i o n not reached by these c o rre la tio n c o e ffic ie n t s .
The no tic e ­
able drop in the c o rre la tio n c o e f f ic ie n t , pretest to post-post ( r =
.3342), as contrasted w ith the higher c o rre la tio n c o e f f ic ie n t , post
t e s t to post-post ( r = .5165), in which no treatment was administered,
post-post, indicated a contamination e ff e c t of the addition al treatment
which l i k e l y affected the c o rre la tio n c o e f f ic ie n t .
An attempt was made
to control fo r t h is and other fa c to rs in the design using s ix th grade
students, the re s u lts of which are reported fu r th e r in t h is chapter.
Table I .
Third Grade A ffe c tiv e Content Choices
Pearson r C orrelatio n C o e ffic ie n t
Pretest to
Post Test
Pretest to
Post-Post
Post Test to
Post-Post
40
35
33
r
.4826
.3342
.5165
P<
.001
.025
Terms:
n = number of students
Pearson r = c o r re la tio n c o e ffic ie n t
p = associated p r o b a b ility
O
O
n
83
Part Two - Inferences
Part Two of the instrument yielded a s p e c ific inference choice on
sixteen separate items.
Since the data in th is subsection were'nominal
data, a chi square t e s t of independence, as suggested by Spatz and
Johnston (1981) was used as a measure of r e l i a b i l i t y , i . e . , s t a b i l i t y ,
on each in d iv id u a l question.
This data yielded a set of two by three .
contingency tables with an expected frequency of less than f iv e in at
le a s t f i f t y percent of the c e lls of each question.
Spatz and Johnston
(1981) and G u ilfo rd (1965) have suggested th a t when expected frequen­
cies are small, frequency c e lls may be combined, provided the combina­
tio n s are lo g ic a l.
A d if f e r e n t op tio n , when combinations are not
l o g ic a l , could be discarding one of the a lte rn a tiv e s provided few
chose the a lte r n a tiv e .
Since inference choice th re e , i . e . , " I do n't
know," was a consistent option and seldom chosen, i t seemed prudent to
discard th a t a lte rn a tiv e fo r these data.
This reduced the sets to two
by two contingency ta b le s .
Results of the chi square have been reported two ways:
with the
Yates' correctio n when expected frequency in one of the c e lls is fiv e
or less, as suggested by Spatz and Johnston (1981), and w ithout the
Yates' c o rre c tio n , as suggested by Ferguson (1981).
Ferguson has
reported studies th a t in d ic a te the Yates' correctio n is unduly conser­
v a tiv e fo r data which conform to random and mixed models.
He suggests
th a t use of the Yates' co rre c tio n w i l l lead to too few s t a t i s t i c a l l y
s ig n if ic a n t re s u lts , and th a t the chi square te s t without the correc­
t io n w i l l provide a reasonably accurate protectio n against Type I
84
errors when the number of subjects is greater than or equal to eight
(1981).
Results of p retest to post te s t chi square analysis indicated four
inference questions s ig n if ic a n t at p_<.05 when the Yates' corecti on was
applied, and six inference questions s ig n if ic a n t at p_<.05 w ithout the
Yates c o rre c tio n .
Results of ^pretest to post-post chi square analysis indicated no
inference questions s ig n if ic a n t at p_<.05 when the Yates' c orrectio n was
applied, and no inference questions s ig n if ic a n t at p<_.05 w ithout the
Yates' c o rre c tio n .
Results of post t e s t to post-post chi square analysis indicated
two inference questions s ig n if ic a n t at p£.05 when the Yates' correction
was applied, and f iv e inference questions s ig n if ic a n t at p<.05 without
the Yates' c o rre c tio n .
These re s u lts were used as part of the measures
o f r e l i a b i l i t y on the inference questions and were necessary to i n t e r ­
pret re s u lts of the f in a l data.
See Tables 11 and I I I .
Part Three - Factual Recall
Part Three of the instrument yielded a number of c o rre c t factual
re c a ll items.
Data to determine r e l i a b i l i t y , i . e . , s t a b i l i t y , of th is
subsection were colle c te d pretest to post t e s t , pretest to post-post,
and post te s t to post-post, using a Pearson r c o rre la tio n c o e ffic ie n t
as in subsection one and the same intervening time in te r v a ls .
Pearson r c o rre la tio n c o e f f ic ie n t , pretest to post t e s t , with an
n of 40, was r = .4963 w ith an associated p r o b a b ility o f of p_<.001.
Pearson r c o rre la tio n c o e f f ic ie n t , pretest to post-post, w ith an n of
35, was r = .3671 w ith an associated p r o b a b ility of p<_.015.
Pearson r
Table I I .
Third Grade P ilo t Inference Questions - Chi Square
Pretest to Post Test
Inference
Question
I
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Il
12
13
14
15
16
Terms:
Raw Chi
Square
32 2.74286
39 12.31579
33 6.30317
.03733
28
.39583
38
29 2.70813
34 14.48804
36 6.18132
39
.11729
29 1.74127
.11395
39
37 8.15716
.57963
37
34 I .44947
34 4.85917
n
Pretest to Post-Post
Post Test to Post-Post
P<
df
n
Raw Chi
Square
P<
df
.098
.000
.012
.847
.529
.010
.000
.013
.732
.187
.736
.004
.447
.229
.028
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
31
27
32
29
22
34
30
27
33
33
28
34
33
28
31
32
.11071
3.30750
I .91210
I .83044
.64706
.42929
I .15385
.12706
.34921
3.09770
.53904
.06439
.70875
2.54545
.22610
I .01349
.739
.069
.167
.176
.421
.512
.283
.722
.555
.078
.463
.800
.400
.111
.634
.314
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
n
Raw Chi
Square
32
32 5.71320
31 5.37333
26 7.46173
25
.44643
30
.37037
25 I .8828
25
.00113
30 3.80952
31
.24800
28 14.93333
32
31 I .23358
27
.02096
26 4.47262
27
.03444 .
—
P<
df
__
.017
.020
.006
.504
.543
.170
.973
.051
.619
.000
—
.267
.885
.034
.853
n = number of students
Inference question = s p e c ific inference question from Part I I of instrument
Raw chi Square = chi square t e s t of independence without Yates' c orrectio n
p.= associated p r o b a b ility
d f = degrees of freedom
- - = SPSS does not compute s t a t i s t i c s when the number of non-empty rows
or columns is one. N onsignificant at p£.05 as determined by hand
c a lc u l a t i on.
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
—
I
I
I
I
Table I I I .
Third Grade P ilo t Inference Questions - Chi Square with Yates' Correction
Pretest to Post-Post
Pretest to Post Test
Inference
Question
I
2.
3
4
5
6
7
8
9 ■
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
Terms:
n
__
Raw Chi
Square
P<
df
__
.30476
32
39 2.58717
33 4.61062
.000
28
.000
38
1
.18966
29
34 11.98633
36 4.15632
.0000
39
.64391
29
.0000
39
37 4.85656
.04823
37
34
.68050
34 3.31955
.581
.108
.031
1.000
I .000
.275
.001
.042
I .000
.422
I .000
.028
.826
.409
.069
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
n
Raw Chi
Square
31 .00001
27 .42188
32 .14222
29 .95194
22 .0000
34 .0000
30 .03205
27 .0000
33 .03410
33 I .14188
28 .09358
34 .0000
33 .00061
28 I .13131
31 .00022
32 .32648
P<
I .000
.516
.706
.329
I .000
1.000
.858
1.000
.854
.285
.760
I .000
.980
.288
.988
.568
Post Test to Post-Post
df
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
n
Raw Chi
Square
27
.97470
31
.87635
26 5.46181
25
.01240
30
.0000
25
.50760
25
.0000
30 2.38757
31
.0000
28 11.84531
—
31
27
26
27
—
.04186
.0000
2.92597
.0000
P<
.324
.349
.019
.911
I .000
.476
I .000
.122
I .000
.001
—
.838
I .000
.087
I .000
df
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
—
I
I
I
I
n = number o f students
Inference question = s p e c ific inference question from subpart I I o f instrument
Corrected chi square = chi square t e s t of independence using Yates' correctio n
p = associated p r o b a b ility
d f = degrees of freedom
- - = SPSS does not compute s t a t i s t i c s when the number of non-empty rows
or columns is one. N onsignificant at p_<.05 as determined by hand
c a lc u la tio n .
87
c o rre la tio n c o e f f ic ie n t , post te s t to po st-post, with an n of 33, was
r = .5492 w ith an associated p r o b a b ility o f p£.000, as reported by
SPSS, which c a rrie s re s u lts to fou r decimal places.
These r e l i a b i l i t y
c o e ffic ie n ts were not considered acceptable and an attempt was made
to control fo r possible contaminating variables in the design reported
in the next section.
Table IV.
See Table IV.
Third Grade Factual Recall Pearson r
C orrelation C o e ffic ie n t
Pretest to
Post Test
Pretest to
Post-Post
33
n
40
r
.4963
.3671
.5492
P<
.001
.015
.000
Terms:
35
Post Test to
Post-Post
n = number of students
Pearson r = c o r re la tio n c o e ffic ie n t
p = associated p r o b a b ility
P ilo t Data - Sixth Grade Students
A tre a tm e n t/te s t-r e te s t design was applied to a class of seventeen
s ix th grade students attending the same school as the p i l o t t h i r d
graders.
To minimize the e ffe c ts of reading level and nature of the
d e liv e ry , the story treatment consisted of the students reading the
t e x t s i l e n t l y and responding s i l e n t l y to the questions.
An in te rv a l of
a week separated the te s t from re te s t, a period of time determined to.
be a'balance between the masking e ffe c ts o f memory and of fo r g e t tin g .
These sessions were designated as pretest and post t e s t .
88
P a r t One - A f f e c t i v e Co n te n t
Part One of the instrument yielded fo r each subject a number of
a ffe c tiv e content choices in the foreground of a tte n tio n .
A Pearson r
c o rre la tio n c o e f f ic ie n t , calculated p re te s t to post t e s t , was used as
a measure of r e l i a b i l i t y .
Results calculated with an n of 17 yielded
a Pearson r = .6569 w ith an associated p r o b a b ility of p_<.002.
Table V.
See
Though modest, t h is r e l i a b i l i t y c o e ffic ie n t ind ica tes im­
proved control of the contaminating variables which seemed in f lu e n t ia l
in the design w ith t h i r d graders and is in d ic a tiv e of a moderate
c o r r e l a tio n .
Table V.
Sixth Grade A ffe c tiv e Content Choices
Pearson r C orrelation C o e ffic ie n t
Pretest to
Post Test
Terms:
n
17
r
.6569
P<
.002
n = number of students
Pearson r = c o r re la tio n c o e ffic ie n t
p = associated p r o b a b ility
Part Two - Inferences
Part Two of the instrument, y ie ld in g a s p e c ific inference choice
on sixteen items, was tre ate d both as a 3 x 3 contingency ta b le ,
in clud ing choice "3 - I d o n 't know," and a 2 x 2 contingency ta b le ,
o m ittin g choice "3 ."
number of cases.
ta b le .
Data' were reported both ways because of the small
Chi square was reported f o r the 3 x 3 contingency
SPSS applies a F ish er's tw o -ta ile d exact te s t fo r fewer than
89
twenty-one cases.
I t is in te rp re te d d i r e c t l y , i . e . , the p r o b a b ility
o f g e ttin g th a t d i s t r ib u t io n of frequencies under the n u ll hypothesis
of no re la tio n s h ip is th a t s p e c ific fig u re (Schutte, 1977).
Chi square
and Fisher exact t e s t fig u re s were reported as measures of r e l i a b i l i t y .
Some scores may be spurious and must be c au tiously in te rp re te d because
o f small c e ll frequency.
Phi and a contingency c o e f f ic ie n t were also reported f o r the 2 x 2
ta b le s .
Both are measures of the strength of a re la tio n s h ip and are
based on chi square.
Phi corrects fo r the fa c t th a t the chi square
value is d i r e c t l y proportional to the number o f cases.
I t assumes a
value of zero when no re la tio n s h ip e x is ts and a value of +1 when v a ria ­
bles are p e rfe c tly re la te d .
Contingency c o e ffic ie n t assumes a minimum
value of zero and a maximum value of .707 f o r a 2 x 2 ta b le ( Nie et
a l . , 1980).
See Table VI.
Results of the chi square analysis indicated four inference ques­
tio n s w ith an associated p r o b a b ility of p<_.05.
See Table V I I .
Results
o f the F is h e r's exact t e s t indicated one inference question with an
associated p r o b a b ility of p_<.05.
See Table VI.
These re s u lts , used as
measures of r e l i a b i l i t y , in conjunction w ith the t h ir d grade data, must
be cau tiously in te rp re te d because of small c e ll frequencies.
Part Three - Factual Recall
Part Three of the instrument yielde d f o r each subject a number of
correct factual re c a ll items.
A Pearson r c o rre la tio n c o e f f ic ie n t ,
calculated p re te s t to post t e s t , was used as a measure of r e l i a b i l i t y .
Results calculated w ith an n of 17 yielded a Pearson r = .6570 with an
associated p r o b a b ility o f p_<.002.
See Table V I I I .
Though modest.
90
t h is r e l i a b i l i t y c o e ffic ie n t ind ica tes improved control of the contami­
nating variables which seemed i n f l u e n t i a l in the design w ith t h ir d
graders and is in d ic a tiv e of a moderate c o rre la tio n .
Table VI.
Sixth Grade Inference Questions Pretest to Post Test Choice "3" Omitted (based on 2 x 2 Contingency Table)
Inference
Question!
n
Fisher's
Exact Test
3
4
5
8
9
11
12
14
15
16
15
7
10
12
12
13
15
11
13
16
.13333
.28571
.2000
.54545 .
.18182
.15385
.13333
.15152
.00466
I .0000
Phi
.68139
.64550
.6667
.35355
.57735
.67700
.68139
.54167
.85391
.14907
>
Contingency
C o e ffic ie n t
.56309
.54233
.55470
.33333
.5000
.56061
.56309
.47628
.64937
.14744
I Inference questions I , 2, 6, 7, 10, and 13 are omitted as SPSS does
not compute s t a t i s t i c s when the number of non-empty, rows or columns
is one.
Terms:
n = number of cases
F is h e r's Exact Test = tw o -ta ile d t e s t . Figure in te rp re te d
d i r e c t l y as associated p r o b a b ilit y . (SPSS applies w ith 2 x 2
ta b le , n<21.)
Phi = measure of strength of re la tio n s h ip based on chi square.
Values range from no re la tio n s h ip , "O," to " + I."
Contingency c o e f f ic ie n t = measure of strength of re la tio n s h ip
based on chi square. Values range from "0" to .707 f o r a
2 x 2 ta b le .
I
91
Table V II.
Inference
Question
I
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
Sixth Grade Inference Questions Pretest
to Post Test - Includes Choice "3"
n
17
17
17
17
17
17
17
17
17
17
17
17
17
17
17
Chi
Square
P<
df
.003
.264
.082
4
4
4
Fish er's Exact
Test, 2-Tailed!
.21891
15.87245
5.23983
8.27513
'
.33088
.12059
4.41558
7.55556
.353
.109
4
4
7.96875
7.96875
.14167
6.54815
10.83750
.9444
.019
.019
.932
.162
.029
.624
2
4
2
4
4
2
.94118
! f i s h e r 's exact t e s t , 2 - t a ile d , is reported instead of chi square,
when contingency ta b le is reduced to 2 x 2 because of student
response p a tte rn . P ro b a b ility level is in te rp re te d d i r e c t l y .
Terms:
n = number of cases
Inference question = s p e c ific inference question from subpart
I I of instrument
Chi square = chi square te s t of independence
p = associated p r o b a b ility
df = degrees of freedom
- - = SPSS does not compute s t a t i s t i c s when number of non­
empty rows or columns is one. Nonsignificant at
p j\0 5 as determined by hand c a lc u la to r.
92
Table V I I I .
Sixth Grade Factual Recall Pearson r
C orrelatio n C o e ffic ie n t
Pretest to
Post Test
Terms:
n
17
r
.6570
P<
.002
n = number of students
Pearson r = c o r re la tio n c o e ffic ie n t
p = associated p r o b a b ility
Experimental Data
Overview
A sample of ninety t h i r d grade students from three schools in
Butte School D i s t r i c t Number One were randomly assigned to one of three
experimental story treatment groups--book and reader, s t o r y t e l l e r , and
sound s lid e show.
Treatment groups consisted of ten students each,
equally divided by sex as much as possible.
Students were administered
the story treatment and the instrument under as s im ila r conditions as
possible, given the actual school s e tt in g .
Total number of students
receiving each treatment was t h i r t y . .
The instrument used to c o lle c t the data was designed to determine
whether each of the three modes of presentation brought d if f e r e n t
c o n te n t--a ffe c tiv e or n o naffective, inference, and f a c t u a l—to the
foreground o f a tte n tio n .
Results o f the data obtained from the e xp eri­
mental treatment are presented in the fo llo w in g section.
.93
Part One - A ffe c tiv e Content
This subsection yielde d f o r each subject a number of a ffe c tiv e
content choices in the foreground of a tte n tio n .
These were to ta le d fo r
each treatment group--book and reader, s t o r y t e l l e r , and sound s lid e
show--and a mean f o r each treatment group calcu la ted .
The book and
reader mode yielded a mean number of a ff e c tiv e responses, x = 10.20,
with a standard deviation o f 2.4969.
The s t o r y t e l l e r mode yielded a
mean number of a ffe c tiv e responses, x = 9.2333, w ith a standard devia­
tio n of 2.1764.
The sound s lid e mode yielde d a mean number of a ffe c ­
t i v e responses, x = 9.3667, w ith a standard deviation of 2.6325.
See
Table IX.
Table IX.
A ffe c tiv e Content Choices by Story Treatment - Descriptives
Mode
Terms:
n
X
Standard
Deviation
Book and Reader
30
10.2000
2.4969
S torytel Ie r
30
9.2333
2.1764
Sound S lide Show
30
9.3667
2.6325
n = number of students
X = mean number of a ff e c tiv e responses
Standard d e viation = standard de viation fo r the mean
Mode = story treatment
A one-way ANOVA was applied comparing these means to t e s t the
n u ll hypothesis th a t there is no d iffe re n c e in t h ir d grade c h ild re n 's
perceptions of a ffe c tiv e content as opposed to nonaffective content
brought to the foreground of t h e i r a tte n tio n by the three modes of
presentation (book and reader, s t o r y t e l l e r and sound s lid e show).
94
Results of the ANOVA yielded an F r a t io = 1.380 with an associated
p r o b a b ility leve l of p_<.2571 w ith two degrees of freedom.
In view o f
these re s u lts , the nu ll hypothesis was accepted and post hoc comparison
te s ts were not warranted.
Table X.
See Table X.
A ffe c tiv e Content Choices by Story Treatment - ANOVA
F
Ratio
Pl
1.380
.257
df
2
One-way ANOVA comparing mean number of a ff e c tiv e content choices by mode.
Terms:
F r a t i o = s t a t i s t i c calculated to determine s t a t i s t i c a l
s ig n ific a n c e f o r ANOVA
p = associated p r o b a b ility
d f = degrees of freedom
An in d iv id u a l t t e s t was applied comparing the mean of the book
and reader treatment to the mean of the s t o r y t e l l e r treatment since the
book and reader mean was outside the 95 percent confidence in te rv a l of
the s t o r y t e l l e r mean.
Results of the t te s t yielded a t value = 1.60
w ith a tw o -ta ile d associated p r o b a b ility o f p<J1.5 w ith 58 degrees of
freedom.
These re s u lts could not be considered to in d ic a te there was
a s t a t i s t i c a l l y s ig n if ic a n t d iffe re n c e between these two means at a
p r o b a b ility le v e l, p£.05.
See Table XI.
95
Table XI.
Students' t Test - Book and R ea der/S toryteller
Comparison x Number A ffe c tiv e Content Choices
X
X
Book & Storyt
Reader t e l I er Value
10.2000 9.2333
Terms:
Pl
I .60 .115
df
58
x = mean number of a ffe c tiv e content choices
t value = students' t s t a t i s t i c calculated to determine
s t a t i s t i c a l s ig n ific a n c e of x differences
p = associated p r o b a b ility
d f = degrees of freedom
Part Two - Inferences
Data from the second subsection of the instrument were used to
t e s t two nu ll hypotheses:
I ) th a t there is no d iffe re n c e in the number
o f inferences about story content made by t h i r d grade child re n exposed
to the three d if f e r e n t modes of story presentation and 2) th a t there
is no d iffe re n c e in in d iv id u a l inferences about story content made by
t h i r d grade children exposed to the three modes of story presentation.
To te s t the f i r s t of these n u ll hypotheses--that of no diffe ren ce
in the number of inferences about story con ten t--th e sets o f 3 x 3 con­
tingency tables yielded by the data were collapsed in to 2 x 3 tab le s .
This was accomplished by combining response choices one and two
together and comparing them to response choice three, i . e . , " I don't
know," which was considered as the "no inference" choice.
Total res­
ponse choices per in d iv id u a l were calculated and a mean per treatment
group obtained.
Analysis of the book and reader data yielded a mean,
X = 13.533, w ith a standard deviation of 2.2397.
Analysis of the
s t o r y t e l l e r data yielded a mean, X = 13.9333, with a standard devia­
t io n of 2.4766.
Analysis of the sound s lid e data yielded a mean.
9 6
x = 13.7778, with a standard de viation o f 2.5297.
A one-way ANOVA was
applied to determine whether there was a s t a t i s t i c a l l y s ig n if ic a n t
d iffe re n c e among these means.
Results of the ANOVA yielde d an F r a tio
= .211 w ith an associated p r o b a b ility o f p_<.810 w ith two degrees of
freedom.
In view of these re s u lts , the nu ll hypothesis was accepted
and post hoc comparison te s ts were not warranted.
Table X II.
Inference Choice to No Inference Choice by Mode
Descripi:ives
Mode
Terms:
See Table X II.
X
AMOVA
Standard
Deviation F Ratio P<
Book and Reader 13.5333
2.2397
S torytel Ie r
13.9333
2.4766
Sound Slide
13.8667
2.8975
.211
.810
df
2
Inference = Response choices I and 2 combined
No inference = "3 - I d o n 't know" response
Mode = Story treatment
x = Mean
F Ratio = S t a t i s t i c calculated to determine associated
p r o b a b ility of ANOVA
p = associated p r o b a b ility
d f = degrees of freedom
The in d iv id u a l questions were analyzed by a chi square t e s t of
independence comparing inference choice ( i . e. , response choice one and
two combined) to no inference choice ( i . e . , response choice thre e , " I
d o n 't know").
From t h is a n a ly s is , only one of the sixteen questions,
i . e . . Question #9, yielded re s u lts in d ic a tiv e of a s ig n if ic a n t d i f f e r ­
ence in response p a tte r n J
The analysis of Question #9 yie ld e d a chi
square value = 8.8889, with an associated p r o b a b ility o f p_<.012 w ith
two degree^ of freedom.
The response pattern fo r the book and reader
97
and the s t o r y t e l l e r group were id e n tic a l and d if f e r e n t from the
response pattern of the sound s lid e group.
Chi Square and Response Pattern - Inference Question #9
Mode
n
Students
Choosing
Inference
Students
Choosing
No Inference Chi Square
Book, and Reader
30
29
I
S to r y t e lle r
30
29
I
Sound Slide
30
23
7
Terms:
8.88889
P< df
O
ro
Table X I I I .
See Table X I I I .
2
Inference = An inference, e ith e r response choices I or 2,
was chosen.
No inference = Response choice "3 - I d o n 't know"
Mode = Story treatment
p = associated p r o b a b ility
d f = degrees of freedom
To t e s t the n u ll hypothesis th a t there is no d iffe re n c e in i n d i ­
vidual inferences about story content made by t h i r d grade children
exposed to the three d if f e r e n t modes of story presentation, a chi
square te s t of independence was applied to each inference question
comparing the three response choices by mode.
This analysis yielded
re s u lts in d ic a tin g three of the questions demonstrated s ig n if ic a n t
d iffe ren ces in response pattern by mode;!
analysis of Question #9
yielde d a chi square value = 13.01316 with an associated p r o b a b ility
pjC.OlI w ith fou r degrees of freedom.
Analysis of Question #12 yielded
a chi square value = 10.28270 with an associated p r o b a b ility of p£.036
w ith four degrees of freedom.
Analysis of Question #15 yielde d a chi
square value = 11 .77697 w ith an associated p r o b a b ility p£.019 with
fo u r degrees of freedom.
Al I three of these questions were considered
98
r e li a b l e , with acceptable associated p r o b a b ility levels by one or more
o f the p i l o t measures, although one must be in te rp re te d q u ite cau­
t i o u s l y , as discussed below.
Table XIV.
See Table XIV.
Chi Square and Response Patterns - Inference
Questions #9, #12, and #151
Question #9
Story
Treat­
ment
n
Question #12
Question #15
Choice Choice Choice Choice Choice Choice Choice Choice Choice
I
2
3
I
2
3
I
2
3
Book &
Reader
30
5
24
I
4
21
5
20
2
8
Storyte l I er
30
9
20
I
I
28
I
12
12
6
Sound
SI ide
30
10
13
7
7
22
I
18
4
8
Chi
Square
13.01316
10.28270
11.77697
Pl
.011
.036
.019
df
4
4
4
Terms:
n = Total number of students per treatment group
Choice I = Inference choice " I "
Choice 2 = Inference choice "2"
Choice 3 = Inference choice "3 = I d o n 't know"
p = Associated p r o b a b ility
df = degrees of freedom
For Question #9, p re te s t to post t e s t , the associated p r o b a b ility
of the chi square was p_<.013.
Results o f the Yates' corrected chi
square, pretest to post t e s t , yielded an associated p r o b a b ility of
p_<.042.
These values, as measures of r e l i a b i l i t y , f a l l w ith in the
acceptable range of a p r o b a b ility l e v e l, p_<.05.
See Table XV.
99
Table XV.
R e l i a b i l i t y of Inference Questions #9, #12, and #15
Type o f Test
Grade
Level
Question #9 Question #12 Question #15
P<
P<
P<
Chi Square - Pre­
te s t to Post Test
3
.013
NS
. NS
Chi Square - Post
to Post-Post
3
.051
NS
.034
3
.042
NS
NS
6
■ NS
NS
.005
3
NA
.0000*
NA
6
NA
.019
NA
Chi Square with
Yates1-P re te st
to Post
Fisher Exact Test
Pretest to Post
Test
Chi Square - 3 x 3
Tables - Pretest
to Post-Post
Chi Square - 3 x 3
Tables - Pretest
to Post
Terms:
•
Grade Level = Grade level of students from which data was taken.
Fisher Exact Test = SPSS applies f o r 2 x 2 ta b le w ith fewer
than 21 cases
p = associated p r o b a b ility
NS = Associated p r o b a b ility _<.05
NA - Not ap plicab le . Other data was used fo r r e l i a b i l i t y fo r
these questions.
*SPSS c a rrie s out to fou r decimal places.
For Question #12, an acceptable r e l i a b i l i t y measure was obtained
with two sets of data in which inference choice "3" was retained.
These re s u lts must be in te rp re te d in view o f the fa c t th a t these data
sets were not reported as measures of r e l i a b i l i t y fo r the other two
questions because of small c e ll frequency in those sets.
An acceptable
r e l i a b i l i t y measure was obtained pretest to post-post from the chi
square value w ith an associated p r o b a b ility p<.0000, which SPSS c a rrie s
out to four decimal places.
The s ix th grade data also yielde d a chi
100
square value with an acceptable associated p r o b a b ility p<.019.
While
these chi square values in d ic a te acceptable r e l i a b i l i t y fo r Question
#12, t h is r e l i a b i l i t y must be viewed very cau tiously since these data
sets were not used fo r the other two questions.
data must be in te rp re te d in t h is context.
Results of the fin a l
See Table XV.
An acceptable chi square value as a measure of r e l i a b i l i t y was
obtained f o r Question #15, post te s t to post-post, w ith an associated
p r o b a b ility p<_.034 and w ith the s ix th grade data, pretest to post t e s t ,
Fisher exact value = .00466.
See Table XV.
In view o f the re s u lts of the chi square analyses of the fin a l
data, the n u ll hypotheses of no d iffe re n c e in in d iv id u a l inferences
about story content made by t h i r d grade child re n exposed to the d i f f e r ­
ent presentation modes was accepted except fo r three s p e c ific inference
questions.
The n u ll hypothesis f o r these three questions was rejected
at a p r o b a b ility level p£.05.
Al I three of these questions were con­
sidered r e lia b le , although in one case in te rp re te d c a u tio u s ly , by
re s u lts obtained by one or more of the p i l o t measures.
Part Three - Factual Recall *1
This subsection yielded a number of correct factual responses fo r
each sub ject.
These were to ta le d f o r each treatment group—book and
reader, s t o r y t e l l e r and sound s lid e show—and a mean f o r each t r e a t ­
ment group calcu la ted .
The book and reader mode yielded a mean number
o f correct responses x = 12.500 w ith a standard deviatipn = 1 .8336.
The s t o r y t e l l e r mode yielded a mean number of correct responses x =
1 1 .7333 w ith a standard deviation = 2.0331 .
The sound s lid e show mode
101
yielde d a mean number of correct responses x = 12.1667 w ith a standard
d e v ia tio n = 1.9667.
Table XVI.
Terms:
See Table XVI.
Factual Recall by Story Treatment - Descriptives
Mode
n
X
Book and Reader
30
12.5000
1 .8336
S torytel I er
30
11.7333
2.0331
Sound Slide
30
12.1667
I .9667
Sta. Dev.
n = Number of students
x = Mean number of correct factual re c a ll responses
Sta. Dev. = Standard de viation fo r the mean
Mode = Story treatment
A one-way ANOVA was applied comparing these means to t e s t the null
hypothesis th a t there is no d iffe re n c e in t h i r d graders' re c a ll of
fac tu a l material based on mode of presentation--book and reader, s to ry ­
t e l l e r and sound s lid e show.
Results of the ANOVA yielde d an F r a tio =
1.170 w ith an associated p r o b a b ility le v e l of p O l S l w ith two degrees
of freedom.
In view of these re s u lts , the n u ll hypothesis was accepted
and post hoc comparison te s ts were not warranted.
Table XVII.
See Table XVII.
Factual Recall by Story Treatment - ANOVA
F
Ratio
Pl
1.170
.315
df
2
One-way ANOVA comparing mean number correct
factual re c a ll items by mode.
Terms:
F r a t io = S t a t i s t i c used to determine s ig n ific a n c e o f ANOVA
p = Associated p r o b a b ility
d f = Degrees of freedom
102
Individual t te s ts were applied comparing means of. the book and
reader and the sound s lid e treatment to th a t of the s t o r y t e l l e r since
those means were e ith e r outside or close to the outer l i m i t of the 95
i
percent confidence in te rv a l f o r the s t o r y t e l l e r mean.
Results of the
t te s t comparing book and reader mode to s t o r y t e l l e r mode yielded a
t value = 1.53 w ith an associated p r o b a b ilit y , tw o - ta ile d , o f p£.131
w ith 58 degrees of freedom.
Results of the t te s t comparing sound
s lid e mode to s t o r y t e l l e r mode yielded a t value = -.8 4 w ith an asso­
ciated p r o b a b ilit y , tw o - ta ile d , of p£.405 with 58 degrees of freedom.
See Table X V III.
These re s u lts could not be considered to in d ic a te
there was a s t a t i s t i c a l l y s ig n if ic a n t d iffe re n c e between these means
at a p r o b a b ility le v e l, p_<.05.
Table X V III.
Students' t Test - Comparison x Number
Correct Factual Recall Items
Book and Reader/S to ry tel I er
X
t
Val ue
Storydf Tel I e r
X
Sound
SI ide
I
1.53 .131 58 11.7333 12.1667
t
Val ue
«3OO
12.5000 11.7333
Terms:
X
X
Book & StoryReader Tel Ie r
Sound S lid e /S to r y te lle r
P<
df
.405 58
x = Mean number correct fac tu a l re call items
t value = Student's t s t a t i s t i c
p = Associated p r o b a b ility
d f = Degrees of freedom
Summary
The inform ation compiled in Chapter Four has considered the
re s u lts of the p i l o t data co lle c te d on t h i r d grade and s ix th grade
students comparing three modes of story treatment--book and reader.
103
s t o r y t e l l e r and sound s lid e show—on a ff e c tiv e content choices, i n f e r ­
ences and factual r e c a ll.
1.
A Pearson r c o rre la tio n c o e f f ic ie n t r = .6569 w ith an asso^
ciated p r o b a b ility of p£.002 was obtained from the. s ix th
grade pretest to post te s t data. Part One of the instrument,
in d ic a tin g moderate c o rre la tio n and an acceptable though
modest measure of r e l i a b i l i t y fo r th is study.
2.
Reported chi square and Fisher exact te s ts as measures of
r e l i a b i l i t y fo r Part Two yielde d s ig n if ic a n t r e s u lts , some
needing cautious in te r p r e ta t io n , on ten of sixteen questions.
3.
A Pearson r c o rre la tio n c o e f f ic ie n t r = .6570 w ith an asso­
ciated p r o b a b ility of p£.002 was obtained from the s ix th
grade pretest to post te s t data. Part Three of the in s tr u ­
ment, in d ic a tin g moderate c o rre la tio n and an acceptable
though modest measure of r e l i a b i l i t y fo r t h is study.
4.
Results from a one-way ANOVA on the experimental data yielded
no s ig n if ic a n t d iffe re n c e among the mean number of a ffe c tiv e
content choices brought to the foreground of a tte n tio n by
each of the three modes of story presentation.
In view of
these r e s u lts , the n u ll hypothesis of no d iffe re n c e in t h i r d
grade c h ild r e n 's perception of a ffe c tiv e content as opposed
to n o n a ffe c tive content brought to the foreground of t h e ir
a tte n tio n by each of three modes of story presentation was
i
accepted.
5.
Results from a one-way ANOVA on the experimental data yielded
no s ig n if ic a n t d iffe re n c e —inference choice to no-inference
104
choice--among the three modes of story presentation.
In view
of these re s u lts , the nu ll hypothesis of no d iffe re n c e in the
number of inferences about story content made by t h i r d grade
children exposed to the three d if f e r e n t modes of story pre­
sentation was accepted w ith the fo llo w in g q u a lif ic a t io n :
re s u lts of chi square te s ts of independence on the in d iv id u a l
inference questions indicated th a t on one of the sixteen
questions there was a s ig n if ic a n t d iffe re n c e in the number
o f inferences made by the c h ild re n .
Results from the experimental data chi square te s ts of inde­
pendence on the in d iv id u a l questions yielded no s ig n if ic a n t
d if f e r e n t response patterns on th ir te e n of the questions and
s ig n if ic a n t l y d i f f e r e n t response patterns on three o f the
questions.
In view of these re s u lts , the n u ll hypothesis of
no d iffe re n c e in in d iv id u a l inferences about story content
made by t h i r d grade child re n exposed to the d i f f e r e n t modes
o f presentation was accepted except fo r three s p e c ific ques­
tio n s .
Results from a one-way ANOVA on the experimental data yielded
no s ig n if ic a n t d iffe re n c e among mean number of correct fa c ­
tu a l re c a ll choices by each of the three modes of story
presentation.
In view of these re s u lts , the n u ll hypothesis
o f no d iffe re n c e in t h i r d grade c h ild re n 's re c a ll of factual
material a ft e r being exposed to the three d if f e r e n t modes
o f presentation was accepted.
105
Chapter 4 Endnotes.
The fo llo w in g questions are referred to in the te x t :
#9
- Do you th in k when E lise met the old woman in the fo re s t th a t
E lise
a.
b.
c.
was a fra id of her?
was not a fra id of her?
I d o n 't know.
#12 - When E lis e was f l y i n g in the net over the sea, do you think
she was
a.
b.
c.
frightened to be so high?
happy to be w ith her brothers?
I d o n 't know.
#15 - Which do you th in k best describes the bishop?
a.
b.
c.
He wanted to know a l l th a t was going on.
He was an e v i l , mean person.
I d o n 't know.
106
CHAPTER 5
DISCUSSION, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Introd uction
The procedures discussed in the preceding chapters of th is study
have d e alt with whether or not three d if f e r e n t modes of story presen­
t a t io n representing, t h e o r e t i c a l l y , d i f f e r e n t media experiences—a book
and reader, a s t o r y t e l l e r , and a sound s lid e show—bring d if f e r e n t
story content to the foreground of a tte n tio n .
The kinds of story con­
te n t were, s p e c i f i c a l l y , a ffe c tiv e as opposed to n o n a ffe c tive, i n f e r ­
ences and fa c tu a l.
A f a i r y t a le . The Wild Swans, was analyzed by a group of three
adults to id e n t if y a ffe c tiv e and nonaffective content as o p e ra tio n a lly
defined.
A researcher designed instrument was developed consisting of
three subparts of sixteen questions each.
In the f i r s t subsection,
a ffe c tiv e content was posited against nonaffective content.
In the
second subsection, s p e c ific inference choices were given, most of which
had emerged from brainstorming sessions w ith students during a pre­
p i l o t phase.
tio n s .
The t h i r d subsection consisted of factual re c a ll ques­
The instrument was submitted to a regional language arts expert
fo r v e r if ic a t io n of construct v a l i d i t y and face v a l i d i t y .
P ilo tin g to determine instrument r e l i a b i l i t y , i . e . , s t a b i l i t y ,
and e sta blish procedures was conducted w ith two classes of t h i r d grade
students from one of the elementary schools in Butte School D i s t r i c t
107
Number One using a tre a tm e n t/te s t-tre a tm e n t/re te s t design.
A number
o f intervening variables were suggested by the re s u lts and an attempt
was made to elim in ate t h e i r e ffe c t w ith an a d dition al p i l o t using s ix th
grade students and a tr e a tm e n t/te s t-r e te s t design.
An acceptable but
modest r e l i a b i l i t y c o e ffic ie n t was obtained using th is procedure.
Third grade students determined to be comparable from three
schools in Butte School D i s t r i c t Number One were randomly assigned to
one of three treatment groups--book and reader, s t o r y t e l l e r , and sound
s lid e show.
Groups consisted of ten students equally divided by sex
as much as possible f o r a to ta l of ninety students, t h i r t y per each
treatment mode.
Presentations were made in a real school s e ttin g under
s im ila r c on dition s.
The same in d iv id u a l gave a l l presentations and
narrated the sound s lid e show which had been developed by the
researcher during the prelim inary phase.
The instrument was adminis­
tered by the researcher immediately fo llo w in g the presentations.
The
f in a l data were compiled and analyzed using a one-way ANOVA on subsec­
tio n s one and th re e , a one-way ANOVA on collapsed reponses from sub­
section two, and chi square te s ts of independence on the in d iv id u a l
questions in subsection two.
Organization
Chapter 5 is organized around the fo llo w in g discussions:
the
development and p i l o t in g of the instrument have been reviewed and the
inherent problems and usefulness have been considered.
f i n a l data have been discussed.
Results of the
These are comprised of the cross-media
comparisons of content in the foreground of a tte n tio n —a ffe c tiv e as
108
opposed to n o n a ffe c tive, inferences and fa c t u a l.
Conclusions derived
from the study, includ ing a consideration of the o rig in a l hypotheses
and research questions, have been discussed.
The conclusions have been followed by a section in which the
researcher's subjective observations and in te rp re ta tio n s have been
shared fo r the reader's consideration.
Recommendations fo r fu r th e r
research, based upon the study, have been discussed.
lend i t s e l f to concrete educational im p lic a tio n s .
The data did not
However, throughout
the process of t h is study, the researcher observed possible educational
im p lic a tio n s which have been offered f o r the reader's consideration in
t h is sectio n.
The chapter concludes w ith .a summary.
Discussion o f the P ilo tin g o f the Instrument
A c ru cia l prelim ina ry to the study was the development of the
instrument.
Most previous research on the kinds of content d iffe r e n ­
t i a l l y brought to c h ild r e n 's a tte n tio n by various modes of presentation
has not u t i l i z e d a paper and pencil t e s t nor group presentations and
data gathering.
Rather, most research has. re lie d on in d iv id u a l pre­
sentations and inte rview techniques.
A paper and pencil instrument has a number of advantages over an
in te rv ie w technique.
Ind ividual presentations, which do not r e fle c t
"real world" s e ttin g s , are almost always necessary w ith the interview
technique.
Besides making group presentations possible, a paper and
pencil instrument elim inates the s u b je c t iv it y of in te rp r e tin g interview
responses and allows fo r much more data to be gathered in a fa r shorter
amount of time.
On the other hand, the inte rview technique has the
109
a u th e n tic ity of the sub jects' actual responses which is h ig h ly
de s ira b le , es p e c ia lly w ith a ff e c tiv e and inference kinds of content.
There were a number of problems th a t became apparent in developing
t h i s instrument which bear serious consideration fo r fu tu re research.
These problems p rim a rily have to do w ith obtaining a r e l i a b i l i t y coef­
f i c i e n t acceptable fo r a researcher designed instrument.
A major problem was creating an adequate number of te s t items f o r
each section w ithout making the e n tire t e s t too long f o r the students'
a tte n tio n span.
Since three d i s t i n c t kinds of s a lie n t content were
measured, these categories could not be combined, and w hile incorpor­
ating more questions in to each section would have lengthened the t e s t ,
possibly increasing r e l i a b i l i t y , the students' a tte n tio n span was a
d e f in it e c o n s tra in t.
A d d itio n a lly , w hile the story was i n t r i n s i c a l l y
content ric h enough to y i e l d enough questions per category fo r an
in te rv ie w , i t was d i f f i c u l t to obtain an adequate number of questions
s u ita b le f o r a paper and pencil t e s t .
This researcher would expect
s im ila r problems in developing other instruments of t h is type.
A dditional problems regarding r e l i a b i l i t y were related to the
students' reading le v e l.
The t h ir d grade students needed the in s t r u ­
ment read aloud, w hile they responded s i l e n t l y , pre and post t e s t , to
ensure t h e i r understanding of the questions.
r e lia b ility .
This procedure could mask
From examining the t h i r d grade p i l o t data, the story
treatment i t s e l f appeared to be a contaminating fa c to r .
But, because
the story was too d i f f i c u l t fo r the students to read by themselves,
e lim in a tin g these variables with t h is age group was impossible.
Con­
sequently, a pre and post t e s t design w ith s ix th graders was u t i l i z e d
HO
to elim in ate some of these contaminating v a ria b le s .
These s ix th
graders read the story and responded to the instrument s i l e n t l y and
were readministered the instrument s i l e n t l y a ft e r a period o f time
determined to be a balance between memory and fo r g e t tin g .
This s ile n t
reading design seemed preferable fo r minimizing the fa c to rs th a t might
p o te n tia l Iy mask r e l i a b i l i t y .
S im ila r instruments could be valuable
in related research, but they should be used with an age group capable
o f independent reading and responding to elim in ate these lim it a t io n s .
R e l i a b i l i t y c o e ffic ie n ts fo r subsections one and three of the
instrument, determined by Pearson c o rre la tio n c o e ffic ie n ts on the s ix th
grade pretest to post te s t data, f e l l at the upper level of "moderate
c o r r e la t io n ," as suggested by Williams (1979) who quotes G u ilfo rd
(1956).
Results of reported chi square and Fisher exact te s t s , re­
q u irin g cautious in te r p r e ta tio n and used to determine r e l i a b i l i t y of
in d iv id u a l questions in subsection two, yielde d a maximum of ten ques­
tio n s with an associated p r o b a b ility o f p£.05.
require higher r e l i a b i l i t y c o e f f ic ie n t s .
Most te s ts usually
However, due to the explora­
to ry nature of t h is study and G u ilfo rd 's (1965) consideration th a t
r e l i a b i l i t y must be viewed in the context of population and te s t con­
d itio n s , i t was determined th a t th is r e l i a b i l i t y , although modest,
was s u f f ic i e n t to proceed with the study and a ll re s u lts would have
to be in te rp re te d in t h is context.
Discussion of A ffe c tiv e Content in the Foreground of A tte n tio n
Data were gathered comparing three modes of story presentation—
book and reader, s t o r y t e l l e r and sound s lid e show--on a ff e c tiv e
Ill
content, o p e ra tio n a lly defined and contrasted with n o n a ffe c tive—in the
foreground of a tte n tio n .
A one-way ANOVA was applied comparing the
mean number of a ffe c tiv e content choices calculated per treatment group
and no s ig n if ic a n t d iffe re n c e among these means was found.
Based on
these re s u lts , the null hypothesis of no d iffe re n c e in t h i r d grade
c h ild r e n 's perception of a ffe c tiv e content brought to the foreground
of t h e i r a tte n tio n by the three modes o f presentation was accepted.
Also based on these re s u lts , there were no data to substantiate the
research question th a t a ff e c tiv e as opposed to nonaffective content
might be more e f f e c t iv e ly brought to the foreground of a tte n tio n by
any of the three modes of presentation,
The lack o f s ig n if ic a n t fin d in g must be in te rp re te d in l i g h t of
the experimental c o n dition s:
the in te ra c tio n of the s t o r y t e l l e r /
re ade r/na rra tor w ith the subjects, the inherent v a r i a b i l i t y in the
s t o r y t e l l i n g and reading, the ad m inistra tion of the instrument and the
instrument i t s e l f may have a l l contributed to "no d iffe re n c e " among
treatment groups.
Perhaps more im p o rta n tly , there may not have been a dramatic
enough d iffe re n c e between the modes of presentation to create real
diffe re n c e s in the communication p o te n tia l of the media.
The s to ry ­
t e l l i n g experience, because of the necessity of presenting a memorized
t e x t and consistent d e liv e ry , was f a r more s t i l t e d than a spontaneous
s t o r y t e l l i n g experience.
And the sound s lid e show, which lacked the
a tt r ib u t e s of movement and animation c h a ra c te ris tic of te le v is e d pre­
sen ta tio n s, such as Meringoff (1978) used, may simply heive been too
close to the book and reader experience to produce a d iffe re n c e .
112
Modes possessing more c le a r ly delineated and v a ria n t a tt r ib u t e s ( e . g . ,
te le v is io n versus book and reader) might produce more dramatic re s u lts .
Furthermore, paper and pencil instrumentation may not be sen s itiv e
enough to capture d iffe ren ces in the in d iv id u a l subjects' perceptions
of a ffe c tiv e content, and the story analysis i t s e l f , upon which the
instrument was based, may not have been s e n s itiv e enough to detect
a ffe c tiv e nuances.
I f th a t were the case, an in te rv ie w technique might
r e c t i f y most of these inadequacies.
Discussion of Inference Questions
Data from the second subsection of the instrument were used to
t e s t two n u ll hypotheses:
I ) th a t there is no d iffe re n c e in the number
of inferences about story content made by t h i r d grade child re n exposed
to the three d if f e r e n t modes of story presentation and 2) th a t there is
no d iffe re n c e in in d iv id u a l inferences about story content made by
t h i r d grade children exposed to the three modes of story presentation.
Results from these data were also used to assess two research ques­
tio n s :
I ) whether or not there were in d ic a tio n s th a t c h ild re n make
more or fewer inferences about story content based on the mode of pre­
sentation and 2) whether or not there were in d ic a tio n s child re n make
d if f e r e n t inferences based on the mode o f presentation.
To t e s t the f i r s t of these nu ll hypotheses, the f i r s t two i n f e r ­
ence choices fo r each question were combined as an "inference choice"
and compared w ith response choice three, i . e . , " I d o n 't know," which
was considered as a "no inference" choice.
A mean per treatment group
was calculated and a one-way ANOVA applied comparing mean d iffe re n c e s .
113
Results of the ANOVA yielde d no s t a t i s t i c a l l y s ig n if ic a n t d iffe re n c e
between means.
\
In view o f these re s u lts , the null hypothesis was
accepted and post hoc comparison te s ts were not warranted.
Chi square te s ts of independence were applied to each ind ivid ual
qu estion, inference choice to no inference choice, and yielded one out
o f sixteen questions in which there were s ig n if ic a n t ly more no i n f e r ­
ence responses, i . e . , 111 d o n 't know" responses, among the sound s lid e
respondents.
In view o f these re s u lts and re s u lts of the ANOVA, the
research question of whether or not there are in d ic a tio n s th a t children
make more or fewer inferences based on mode of presentation, seemed
unsubstantiated except in one out of the sixteen s p e c ific cases.
To te s t the nu ll hypothesis th a t th e r e , is no d iffe re n c e in i n d i ­
vidual inferences about s to ry content made by t h ir d grade children
exposed to the three d if f e r e n t modes of story presentation, a chi
square t e s t of independence was applied to each inference question
comparing the three response choices by mode.
This analysis yielded
re s u lts in d ic a tin g three of the questions demonstrated s ig n if ic a n t
diffe ren ces in response pattern by mode.
These questions had been
determined to be acceptably r e lia b le by at least one of the analyses
from the p i l o t i n g .
In the case of one of the three questions, however,
in te rp r e ta tio n of the r e l i a b i l i t y , was considerably more questionable
because the s p e c ific data sets used were not used fo r the other two
questions because of small c e ll frequency.
In view o f these re s u lts , the n u ll hypothesis of no d iffe re n c e in
in d iv id u a l inferences about story content made by t h i r d grade children
exposed to the d if f e r e n t presentation modes was accepted except fo r
114
three s p e c ific inference questions.
Based on these re s u lts , the re ­
search question of whether or not there are in d ic a tio n s th a t children
made d if f e r e n t inferences about s to ry content according to mode of
presentation could not be answered d e f i n i t e l y and had to be considered
in the context of the re s u lts from a l l the inference questions.
These re s u lts do not seem to be completely consistent with
M e rin g o ffs (1978) fin d in g s in which the inferences across the media
were the same but the lin e of reason f o r a r r iv in g at the inferences
was d i f f e r e n t .
However, in general, these re s u lts are consistent with
the analysis of the re s u lts of Part One of the instrument from th is
study in which there was no d iffe re n c e in a ffe c tiv e as opposed to nona ff e c tiv e content brought to the foreground of a tte n tio n by each of the
three modes of presentation.
Besides the p o s s i b i l i t y th a t the factors
o f experimental conditions and instrumentation may have affected these
fin d in g s , there also may not have been a dramatic enough d iffe re n c e
between the modes of presentation to create more d iffe re n c e in the
communication p o te n tia l of the media.
Discussion o f Factual Content in the Foreground o f A tten tion
Data were gathered comparing three modes of story p resen tatio n-book and reader, s t o r y t e l l e r and sound s lid e show--on factual content
in the foreground of a tte n tio n .
A one-way ANOVA was applied comparing
the mean number of correct responses per treatment group and no s i g n i f ­
ican t d iffe re n c e among these means was found.
Thus, the n u ll hypothe­
s is of no d iffe re n c e in t h i r d grade c h ild r e n 's re c a ll o f factual mater­
ia l based on the three modes of presentation was accepted.
Also,
115
based on these re s u lts , there were no data to substantiate the research
question th a t factual content might be d i f f e r e n t i a l Iy brought to the
foreground of a tte n tio n by any of the three modes of presentation.
The lack o f s ig n if ic a n t fin d in g s is consistent w ith the lack of
s ig n if ic a n t fin d in g s from the other two subsections.
There simply was
no d iffe re n c e , at le a s t on these questions, in factual re c a ll discrim ­
in a tio n by mode.
I t is possible th a t using an in te rv ie w technique fo r
data gathering might produce more diffe ren ces in factual r e c a l l , and
th a t diffe ren ces might be augmented i f the modes of presentation were
representative of more v a ria b le a t t r ib u t e s , and the questions more
c lo s e ly correlated w ith those a t t r ib u t e s .
Conclusions
The fo llo w in g conclusions were reached as a re s u lt of t h is e x p e ri­
mental study.
I.
There was no d iffe re n c e in a ff e c tiv e content as opposed to
n o n a ffe c tive content brought d i f f e r e n t i a l l y to the foreground
o f a tte n tio n by the three modes of story presentation as
determined in th is experimental s e ttin g .
Based on th is con­
c lu s io n , the n u ll hypothesis of no d iffe ren ce in t h i r d grade
c h ild r e n 's perception of a ff e c tiv e content brought to the
foreground o f t h e i r a tte n tio n by the three presentation modes
was accepted.
There was no evidence to substantiate the
research question th a t a ff e c tiv e as opposed to nonaffective
content might be more e f f e c t i v e l y brought to the foreground
o f a tte n tio n by any o f the i d e n t if ie d modes of presentation.
116
These conclusions must be in te rp re te d in the context of the
modest r e l i a b i l i t y c o e ffic ie n t obtained fo r th is subsection
o f the instrument.
2.
There was no d iffe re n c e , o v e r a ll, between inference choice
as opposed to no inference choice made by students presented
the three modes of story treatm ent-book and reader, s to ry ­
t e l l e r and sound s lid e show—as determined in t h is experimen­
t a l s e ttin g .
Based on t h is conclusion, the n u ll hypothesis
of no d iffe re n c e in the number of inferences about story
content made by t h i r d grade child re n exposed to the three
d if f e r e n t presentation modes was accepted.
O v e ra ll, the
research question of whether or not there are in d ic a tio n s
th a t children make more or fewer inferences based on mode of
presentation seemed unsubstantiated except in one out of the
sixteen s p e c ific cases.
These conclusions must also be
viewed in the context of the modest r e l i a b i l i t y indices
obtained in t h is subsection of the instrument.
3.
There was no d iffe re n c e in in d iv id u a l inferences about story
content made by t h i r d grade child re n exposed to the three
d i f f e r e n t modes of presentation f o r approximately eighty
percent of the in d iv id u a l inference questions.
Based on th is
conclusion, the nu ll hypothesis of no d iffe re n c e in i n d iv id ­
ual inferences about story content made by t h i r d grade c h i l ­
dren exposed to the d if f e r e n t presentation modes was accepted
except f o r three s p e c ific questions.
The research question
addressing whether or not there are in d ic a tio n s th a t children
117
make d if f e r e n t inferences about story content according to
the presentation mode could not be answered d e f i n i t e l y .
These conclusions must be considered in the context of the
modest r e l i a b i l i t y indices obtained on these questions.
4.
There was no d iffe re n c e in t h i r d grade c h ild r e n 's correct
factual re c a ll based on the three modes of presentation—
book and reader, s t o r y t e l l e r and sound s lid e show—as de ter­
mined in th is experimental s e tt in g .
Based on t h is conclu­
s ion , the n u ll hypothesis of no d iffe re n c e in t h i r d grade
c h ild r e n 's re c a ll of factual m aterial based on the three
modes of presentation was accepted.
There was no evidence
to substantiate the research question th a t fa c tu a l content
might be d i f f e r e n t i a l Iy brought to the foreground of atten­
tio n by any of the three presentation modes.
While these
conclusions are warranted by the re s u lts of the study, they
must be viewed in the context o f the modest r e l i a b i l i t y
c o e f f ic ie n t obtained f o r th is subsection of the instrument.
Observations and In te rp re ta tio n s
The fo llo w in g s ub jective observations and in te rp r e ta tio n s have
been based on the researcher's experiences during the e n tir e process
involved in the con ceptualization, execution and completion of th is
study.
Because of the exploratory nature of t h is research, these sub­
je c t i v e observations have been offered to the reader f o r consideration.
They are not, however, conclusions based on re s u lts of the experimental
s tu d y .
%
118
1.
A fe a s ib le technique f o r story analysis is the determination
of o p e ra tio n a lly defined content by panel consensus.
How­
ever, t h is technique may not y ie ld a s u f f ic i e n t qu a n tity of
content items to render i t u s e fu l.
2.
I t is possible to design a paper and pencil instrument fo r
determining sub jects' perceptions of s a lie n t c o n te n t; how­
ever, i t is very d i f f i c u l t to obtain a s u f f i c i e n t l y high
r e l i a b i l i t y c o e f f i c i e n t , e s p e c ia lly when the instrument is
used w ith elementary school aged child re n and when i t is
determining more than one type of s a lie n t content.
Further
in v e s tig a tio n of the development of th is kind of instrument
with d if f e r e n t age groups may be warranted since a large
q u a n tity o f data can be c ollected in a short time with group
presentations and since such an instrument could y ie ld v a l­
uable inform ation about the e ffe c ts of d if f e r e n t media.
3.
Although demonstrated by the data fo r only three s p e c ific
questions, there are in d ic a tio n s th a t some inference content
may be d i f f e r e n t i a l l y brought to the foreground of a tte n tio n
by the d if f e r e n t modes of presentation.
The researcher's
in te rp r e ta tio n of the students' response patterns on these
three questions would seem to in d ic a te th a t the inference
choices were influenced by a tt r ib u t e s of the p ic tu re stimu­
lu s , e. g. , the presence or absence of c e rta in p ic tu re s , and
the use of close-up shots of characters' fa c ia l expressions.
4.
Although not substantiated by the study, the modes of book
and reader, s t o r y t e l l e r and sound s lid e show may possess
119
a t t r ib u t e s th a t are not c h a r a c te r is tic a lly distin ctive .e n o u g h
to d i f f e r e n t i a l l y influence perception of content.
Recommendations f o r Further Research
The fo llo w in g recommendations fo r fu r th e r research were derived )
from the conduct of t h is study.
1.
In lie u of a r e p lic a tio n of t h i s study, i t is recommended
th a t a book and reader, s t o r y t e l l e r and f i l m s t r i p or sound
s lid e show comparison be made on an in d iv id u a l basis using
an in te rv ie w technique, s im ila r to th a t used by Meringoff
(1978).
This would provide an a lte rn a tiv e method to deter­
mining whether or not these media possess a tt r ib u t e s charac­
t e r i s t i c a l l y d i f f e r e n t enough to create a d iffe re n c e in
inform ation p o te n tia l.
2.
I t would seem productive f o r fu tu re research to more c le a rly
delineate s p e c ific a ttr ib u te s of various media and to t r y to
re la te id e n t i f i e d , s p e c ific a tt r ib u t e s to a ffe c tiv e and
in fe r e n tia l in te rp r e ta tio n s of content.
3.
Any s im ila r research should possibly minimize the environ­
mental fa c to rs which might contaminate the r e s u lts .
For
example, i t is recommended th a t the same lo c a tio n be used
fo r a ll the presentations.
A d d itio n a lly , i t might be
de sirab le i f the presenter were f a m ilia r to the students.
I f students from only one school were used, cross grade
level comparisons could be made.
However, accommodations
would have to be made fo r the students' d i f f e r i n g a tte n tio n
120
spans and reading le ve ls i f those were fa c to rs in the
research design.
4.
The development of paper and pencil instruments f o r deter­
mining inform ation p o te n tia l in cross-media studies warrants
f u r th e r in v e s tig a tio n .
Since more data can be c o llected in
a shorter amount of time and since group s e ttin g s are more
r e f le c t iv e of real school s itu a tio n s , the refinement of a
technique f o r such instrument development would be valuable.
Such instrument development should be appropriate to the
independent reading level of the subjects and t h e i r a tte n tio n
span.
I t might be necessary to l i m i t the instrument to c o l­
le c tin g only one kind of data ( f o r example, only one kind of
s a lie n t c on ten t).
Knowing the f e a s i b i l i t y of re g u la rly using
t h i s kind of instrument would give d ire c tio n to fu r th e r
research.
5.
A lte rn a tiv e approaches both to paper and pencil instrument
and in te rv ie w technique seem warranted at t h is p o in t.
Some
of these might include nonverbal conceptualization of the
story such as arranging, s o rtin g or ranking pictu re s or
observation techniques using video equipment.
Further re­
search could draw from other d is c ip lin e s , such as psychology,
which may have nonverbal measures of a ffe c tiv e responses
which could be correlated w ith d if f e r e n t presentations of a
s to ry .
6.
In ad dition to perceptions of a ffe c tiv e content and i n f e r ­
ences' about content, other areas, such as problem solving .
121
could be in v e s tig a te d .
An in te re s tin g approach might be to
in v e s tig a te whether or not there are differences in problem
solving techniques on a problem s p e c if ic a lly related to a
story a ft e r having i t presented by d if f e r e n t modes.
7.
An in v e s tig a tio n of preferences of mode might be undertaken,
r e la tin g these preferences to the in d iv id u a liz e d varia ble of
learning s ty le .
8.
Future research should focus on comparing modes of presen­
ta t io n th a t possess, at lea st apparently, d ram a tically
d i f f e r e n t a tt r ib u t e s .
However, the medium of the f i l m s t r i p ,
e s p e c ia lly used fo r presentations of c h ild r e n 's storybooks,
warrants more in v e s tig a tio n .
Since there are so many excel­
le n t commercially produced f i l m s t r i p s , they could perhaps be
used in a series of comparisons on some i d e n t i f i a b l e t r a i t s .
9.
The long term and overall e ffe c t of d if f e r e n t media presen­
t a t io n s , such as the work done by Smardo and Carry (1982),
warrants fu r th e r in v e s tig a tio n .
In th is kind of study, a
type of media presentation is given re g u la rly over a long
period o f tim e.
Pre and post te s tin g is used to determine
whether or not there are changes on some generalized a b i l i t y
th a t are related to these d i f f e r e n t i a l exposures.
Educational Im plications
The actual data derived from t h is study did not lend i t s e l f to
concrete educational recommendations.
a-
However, throughout the process
o f conducting t h is study, the researcher has perceived a number of
122
possible educational im p lic a tio n s which are suggestions fo r the
reader's consideration.
1.
I t appears th a t l i v e presentations are enjoyed by students
who seem to appreciate the personal contact with the reader
or s t o r y t e l l e r .
Memorized s t o r y t e l l i n g presentations do
not seem as e ff e c tiv e in capturing and holding a tte n tio n as
other modes.
Spontaneous s t o r y t e l l i n g might be preferred
fo r some purposes to memorized s t o r y t e l l i n g .
Although not
demonstrated by the study, teachers, lib r a r ia n s and parents
who value reading aloud and using l i v e presentations might
be reassured th a t there seems to be value in these experi­
ences even though at times such value might be in ta n g ib le
and not subject to q u a n tita tiv e analysis.
2.
Although t h is suggestion goes beyond the data, teachers and
li b r a r i a n s , when using media such as f i lm s t r ip s or te le vised
productions to present storybooks, might give consideration
to the e ffe c t on the students th a t they wish the presentation
to have.
Although not determined in th is study, there may
be subtle diffe ren ces in inform ation po ten tial th a t are
tra n s m itte d .
Other research has indicated t h is p o s s i b i l i t y .
I t might be worthwhile to u t i l i z e a lte rn a tiv e media forms
when a v a ila b le .
3.
I t appears to t h is researcher th a t f a i r y ta le s and fo lk lore
s t i l l seem to be popularly received by c h ild re n , and teachers
and lib r a r ia n s might be encouraged not to omit these and
other t r a d it io n a l l i t e r a r y forms from the c h ild r e n 's exposure.
123
4.
From t h is researcher's observation, a relaxed, comfortable
atmosphere is important to a successful s t o r y t e l l i n g or book
and reader experience.
I t also is important f o r the s to ry ­
t e l l e r or reader to be personally f a m ilia r with the students.
5.
Although not substantiated by the data, the presence or
absence of i l l u s t r a t i o n s and the kind of expression the
i l l u s t r a t e d characters display may make a d iffe re n c e in some
inferences about story content.
In view o f t h i s p o s s i b i l i t y ,
teachers and lib r a r ia n s might be wise to c a r e fu lly select
i l l u s t r a t e d versions of s to rie s when a lte rn a tiv e s e x is t.
6.
Although t h is suggestion goes beyond th is study, w ith so
many forms of media accessible to students today, i t would
seem prudent to expose students to as many of these forms as
possible, giv in g them a wide range of experience in i n t e r ­
p reting inform ation transm itted through d if f e r e n t forms.
Summary
Chapter 5 of t h is study has d e alt w ith the fo llo w in g :
a discus­
sion of the p i l o t and the instrum entation, a discussion of the results
of the study regarding a ff e c tiv e and nonaffective content, inferences
and factual r e c a ll, conclusions (in c lu d in g a consideration of the o r ig ­
ina l hypotheses), sub jective observations and in te r p r e ta tio n s , observed
educational im p lic a tio n s , and recommendations fo r fu r th e r research.
Discussion of the p i l o t focused on problems inherent in the devel­
opment of a researcher designed instrument.
Since a s ig n if ic a n t pre­
lim in a ry to t h is study was the development of the instrument and since
124
use of a paper and pencil instrument is very uncommon in t h is research,
t h i s discussion could bear consideration f o r fu tu re research of a
s im ila r nature.
Discussion of the experimental fin d in g s explicated the re sults
obtained when students were exposed to the three d if f e r e n t modes of
presenting the same s to ry —book and reader, s t o r y t e l l e r and sound s lid e
show.
The instrument compared t h e i r responses on a ffe c tiv e as opposed
to n o n a ffe c tive content, inferences and factual r e c a ll.
Conclusions were derived from the o r ig in a l hypotheses upon which
t h i s study was based.
A d d itio n a lly , s ub jective observations and
in te rp r e ta tio n s made by the researcher during the e n tire experimental
process were discussed.
Because of the exploratory nature of t h is
research and paucity of precedent s tu d ie s , i t may be th a t the study's
primary value to educational research has been the d e lin e a tio n of the
experimental procedures used throughout t h is process.
There were no concrete educational im p lic a tio n s derived from the
data.
However, throughout the study, the researcher perceived a number
o f possible educational im p lic a tio n s , which (as suggestions f o r the
reader's consideration) have been discussed in t h is s e c tio n .
Perhaps research in new areas leaves more questions than i t does
answers.
The study described in these chapters is somewhat consonant
w ith th is observation.
Throughout the experimental process, however,
the study has f r u i t f u l l y provided new questions related to cross-media
considerations, possible new approaches to the questions th a t motivated
th is study, and hopefully background inform ation fo r in d iv id u a ls i n t e r ­
ested in the theory and research re la tin g to media stud ies.
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130
APPENDICES
APPENDIX A
PILOT MATERIAL
132
BRAINSTORMED CONTENT
133
a messenger from the c astle
E lise had a fo o ts to o l made of
gl ass
...( c lo u d s ) th a t looked l i k e
fo re s ts , mountains and shining
pal aces
golden s h ir t s w ith stars and
swords
she was glad—excited when she got
to the seashore
they thought she was a witch
because she went to the graveyards
at night
the f a i r y was the old lady
the king thought she was a witch
the old lady was good
(old woman in the woods was) a
witch
...s h ip s th a t looked l i k e sea g u lls
sparkling in the water
witches
i t was tr y in g to t e l l about l i f e
mi n is te r
about her brothers
bony fing ers
i t was tr y in g to t e l l about I i f e - the e x c itin g things
i t was tr y in g to t e l l about the
ups and down of l i f e
eleven princes and one princess
eleven swans and a princess' l i f e
somebody t o ld her the y'd been
turned in to swans
they understood what she was
doing was fo r them
i t was tr y in g to t e l l about love
( i t was tr y in g to t e l l you) some­
times you run in to bad things in
life
she cried and laughed
they wept
she loved her brothers
she was sad when she was growing
up
when you run in to bad things in
l i f e you have to work your way out
princess seen a witch in the
fo r e s t when she was looking fo r
her brothers
the king wanted to marry her
at the beginning they are happy
from the time they wake up u n til
they go to bed at night
princes are happy at the beginning
they made a net so she could go
w ith them
f a i r y to ld her to gather a l l the
n e ttle s she could get
he d i d n 't l i k e her (m in is te r)
he was going to burn her
she was dreaming about going up to
castles
134
she saw the swans land
princess was sent away to a farm
wicked queen turns them in to
eleven w ild swans
princes were turned, in to swans
she found eleven swans' feathers
on the beach
she found the n e ttle s in the grave­
yard ■
she f e l l in to t h e i r arms
(she saw) feathers
they f e l l in to each oth ers' arms
(witches) clawed the ground
she la id down and the swans
grasped the net and flew over
the sea
lady t o ld her (brothers turned in to
swans)
she saw clouds
they made a net
they made a net so she could go
w ith them
she saw ships
f a i r y t o ld her to take as many
n e ttle s as she can to make some
sweaters
she dreamed of a f a i r y
she saw a f a ir y
they found E lise s ile n t
he (m in is te r) went back and to ld
the king
(when she went to get the
n e ttle s ) he followed her
the king came--he.picked her up
and took her away
a f t e r a w hile the brothers came
fa th e r married a wicked woman
princess k n it some sweaters
(m in is te r) nice
i f the sun went down and they
were s t i l l up in the sky the y'd
come crashing down
she needed the weeds to turn her
brothers back in to boys
AFFECTIVE CONTENT
136
1 - these chi I den were happy
2 - queen who hated the child re n
3 - tears streamed down her face
4 - once more they were child re n playing together carefree and loved
5 - E lise threw hereself down and began to weep
6 - she looked up, to her jo y
7 - they laughed and cried
8 - the brothers came back and were alarmed
9 - the king saw her smile fo r the f i r s t
time
10 - joyously clasped her to him1
11 - king, who loved her and wanted so much to please her
12 - she s to le away f e a r f u ll y
13 - to her horror
14 - E lis e saw the k in g 's sorrow
15 - i t troubled her g r e a tly , adding to the pain
16 - she was so happy
17 - the crowd moved back f e a r f u l l y
18 - she awoke and smiled at him 19 - she had loved him
137
CONTENT FROM GUIDED BRAINSTORMING
138
What was the story about?
eleven princes and one princess
princes were turned into, swans
princess seen a witch in the fo re s t
when she was looking f o r her
brothers
princess sent away to a farm
princess k n it some sweaters
she found the n e ttle s in the
graveyard
f a i r y to ld her to gather a ll the
n e ttle s she could get
fa th e r married a wicked woman
What else was in the graveyard?
witches
clawed the ground (what did they do?)
(what kind of fin g e rs did they have?) bony
When she went- looking f o r her brother?
(how did she fin d out her brothers had been turned in to swans?)
lady to ld her
saw feathers
she was glad - excited when she got to the seashore
a ft e r a while the brothers came
sun came down and swans came and they turned back in to boys
(what would happen i f the sun went down and they were s t i l l up there?)
. they would come crashing down
(how did she decide to look fo r her brothers?) because somebody to ld
her the y'd been turned in to swans
What was the old woman in the woods lik e ?
a witch - nice - (because she to ld her about the swans)
What did they do?
made a net (why did they want to make a net?) so she could go with them
w hile she was in the net what did she do?
she was dreaming about going up - to castles
139
I
Then they got to the land and she dreamed—what did she dream about?
about her brothers
she saw a f a i r y
f a i r y to ld her to take as many n e ttle s as she can to make some sweaters
What did the n e ttle s do when she touched them?
made her fin g e rs b l i s t e r
Next day as she was k n it t in g the s h ir t s what happened?
they turned to sweaters
the king came - he picked her up and took her away
Then they got married— did they l i v e happily ever afte r?
no
Who was there a t the palace—who married them—what kind o f person
was he?
m in is te r - p r ie s t - nice - churchman
Was he nice to E l i se?
he d i d n 't l ik e her - he to ld the king she was a witch
(when she went to get the n e ttle s , what did he do?) he followed her
and ( then he saw the witches and what did he do?) he went back and
to ld the king
140
INSTRUMENT DIRECTLY FROM TEXT
141
INTRODUCTION
At the beginning E lise and her brothers are described.
most important as the story was t o ld to you?
I)
2)
Which seemed
these child re n were happy (from the time
they woke in the morning u n t il they went
to bed at nig ht)
[ A ffe c t iv e ]
these children liv e d in a warm and pleasant
land (the princes wore stars on t h e i r s h irts
and t h e i r s is t e r had a fo o ts to o l made of
glass)
[D e s c rip tiv e ]
CONFLICT AND TRAGIC EVENTS
The c h ild r e n 's l i f e is changed when the king gets married .
seemed most important as the story was to ld to you?
WhiCh I
D
the queen sent E lis e away (to be looked a ft e r
by farmers)
[A c tio n ]
2)
the queen hated the children (and wanted
only to be r id of them)
[A f f e c t iv e ]
BEGINNING OF THE QUEST
The k in g 's messenger t e l l s E lis e th a t her brothers were turned in to
swans. She resolves to fin d them. Which seemed more important as the
was t o ld to you?
D
2)
(At n i g h t f a l l ) she came in to a great fo re s t
where the a i r was s t i l l and mild (and every­
where glowworms shown w ith a green f i r e )
[D e s c rip tiv e ]
(A lI n ig h t) E lise dreamed of her brothers
and (once more) they were (c h ild re n ) playing
together carefree and loved.
[ A ffe c ti ve]
142
REUNION
E lis e and her brothers are reunited on the seashore,
important as the story was to ld to you?
I)
2)
Which seemed most
They laughed and crie d and held each other
(in the growing darkness)
[ A ffe c t iv e ]
They spent the n ig h t making a net ( from
w illow bark and rushes)
[A c tio n ]
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SOLUTION
The f a i r y (comes to E lise in her dream) shows E lis e the n e ttle s and
t e l l s her how she can free her brothers. Which seemed more important?
I)
(Then) E lise awoke and began her task.
[A c tio n ]
2)
The brothers were alarmed (by her silence)
but they understood her work was fo r them
( f o r t h e ir sake)
[A f f e c t iv e ]
ARRIVAL OF THE KING
The king discovers E lis e and takes her to his magnificent c i t y where he
marries her. Which seemed most important?
1)
2)
(A fte r E lis e became queen) the king led her
to a chamber where her bundle o f s h ir t s and
n e ttle s were.
[A c tio n ]
E lise smiled fo r the f i r s t time (and the
king joyously held her to him)
[A ffe c t iv e ]
DESCRIPTION OF THEIR RELATIONSHIP*1
2
Which seemed most important?
1)
2)
The king (loved her) and wanted (so much)
to please her.
[A ffe c t iv e ]
(Each nig ht) when the king was sleeping
E lise k n itte d the s h ir t s .
[A c tio n ]
143
FINAL CONFLICT INTRODUCED
E lis e runs out of n e ttle s and has to gather more from the church yard
(a t n i g h t ) . Which seemed most important?
1)
2)
*
The bishop (follow ed E lis e and) t o ld the
king about her (n ighttim e) v i s i t and (about)
the witches.
[A c tio n ]
E lise saw the k in g 's sorrow; and i t troubled
her (g re a tly ) and added to (her) pain (she
already f e l t ) .
[ A ffe c t iv e ]
BEGINNING OF THE CLIMAX SCENE
While E lis e was in the dungeon one of the swans finds her.
seemed most important?
1)
2)
Which
She was happy because ( though she might soon
be dead) her task was almost done and her
brothers were nearby.
[ A ffe c t iv e ]
The brothers t r i e d to (see the king and)
save E lis e but were turned in to swans as
the sun came up.
[A c tio n ]
FINAL SCENE
The swans are turned in to E l is e 1s brothers and she is freed.
seemed most important?
Which
I)
She (awoke and) smiled a t the king fo r she
had loved him from the beginning.
[ A ffe c t iv e ]
2)
They returned to the palace (g re a t flocks
of birds appeared and) churchbelIs rang out
throughout the land.
[A c tio n ]
144
INSTRUMENT:
INFERENCES ABOUT AFFECTIVE CONTENT
145
INTRODUCTION
CONFLICT AND TRAGIC EVENTS
(From the! way the story was to ld to you) do you thin k th a t
D
E lis e 's fa th e r was sad about what happened ito
her and her brothers.
2)
E lis e 's fa th e r d id n 't care what happened to
her and her brothers.
[ A ffe c t iv e opposites]
THE QUEST
(From the way the story was to ld to you) do you thin k th a t the old
woman in the fo re s t
D
d id n 't want to be bothered by E lis e .
[A ffe c t iv e -
2)
was f r ie n d ly to E lis e .
opposites]
(From the way the story was t o ld to you) when E lise FIRST reached the
sea she was
D
exhausted and sad.
[ A ffe c t iv e ]
2)
excited and happy.
opposites]
(From the way the story was t o ld to you) when E lise was f l y i n g in the
net over the seashore she was
D
2)
' peaceful and calm.
frightened to be so high above the water.
[A ffe c t iv e opposites]
SOLUTION
Which best describes E lis e when the huntsmen fin d her
D
She is pleased (a t) the k in g 's (c a lls her
,"beautiful maiden") a tte n tio n .
2)
She is worried th a t she w i l l be taken from
her work.
[ A ffe c t iv e opposites]
1 4 6
CONFLICT
Which best describes the bishop.
I)
He was a bad person.
[ A ffe c t iv e -
2)
He (wanted to know,) what went, on (a t the
palace).
n e u tra l]
When the bishop sees the witches (on the graves which do you think best
describes how he f e l t ? ) how did he feel?
I)
(He was) frig hten ed (watching them claw
the e a rth ).
2)
(He was) glad (they were there) because
he could t e l l the king.
[A f f e c t iv e ]
opposites]
As the story was to ld to you how do you thin k the king f e l t when the
people judged E lise to be a witch?
I)
Relieved he d i d n 't have to decide.
2)
Sad they said she was a w itch.
Which of these is most true abou the story?
1)
I t was a story about hardship in l i f e and love.
2)
I t was a story o f long ago when there was
adventure, magic, kings, and queens.
147
APPENDIX B
FINAL INSTRUMENT AND STORY TEXT
148
FINAL INSTRUMENT
NAME________
SCHOOL
THE WILD SWANS
PART I
1.
At the beginning, which seemed most important?
a.
b.
2.
A fte r the king got married, which seemed most important?
a.
b.
3.
The queen sent E lis e away.
The queen hated the c h ild re n .
As the brothers flew from the palace, which seemed most
important?
a.
b.
4.
These children were happy.
These child re n liv e d in a warm and pleasant land.
They c ir c le d the countryside.
Their c rie s were strange and m ournful.
Which seemed most important?
a.
b.
The years th a t passed f o r E lis e were bleak and empty.
E lise was h o r r if ie d at the sad fa te of her brothers.
i
5.
Which seemed most important as E lis e wandered about?
a.
b.
6.
When Elise reached the seashore, which seemed most important?
a.
b.
7.
Tears streamed down her face.
The a i r in the fo r e s t was s t i l l and m ild.
She began to weep.
She saw eleven swans' feathers on the sand.
Which seemed most important when she saw the swans?
a.
b.
The swans had golden crowns.
E lise was joyous.
149
8.
Which seemed most important?
a.
b.
9.
A fte r the King found E lis e , which seemed most important?
a.
b.
10.
The king saw the witches s i t t i n g on the graves.
The king could watch no more and c rie d , "Let the
people judge h e r!"
A fte r E lise was taken to the dungeon which seemed most important?
a.
b.
16.
The k in g 's sorrow troubled her and added to her pain.
The king and the bishop both followed E lise the next time.
Then which seemed most important?
a.
b.
15.
E lise saw the k in g 's sorrow.
She had only one more s hirt, to k n i t .
Which seemed most important?
a.
b.
14.
The bishop had followed E lis e to the churchyard.
The kin g 's heart was broken when he heard about E lis e .
Which seemed most important?
a.
b.
13.
E lise walked to the churchyard alone.
She was h o r r if ie d when she saw the witches.
Which seemed most important?
a.
b.
12.
The king loved E lise and wanted to please her.
The bishop whispered the fo re s t maiden must be a w itc h .
When she went to get more n e ttle s , which seemed most important?
a.
b.
11.
They laughed and cried and held each oth er.
They spent the night making a net.
A ll night long she worked.
She was happy though she might soon be dead.
Which of these seemed most important?
a.
b.
She cried " I am innocent."
The oldest to ld them a ll th a t had happened.
150
pArt i i
From the way the story was to ld to you:
I»
Do you th in k when they were l i t t l e
a.
b.
c.
2.
mean to her?
kind to her?
I d o n 't know.
Do you th in k th a t E lis e 's fa th e r
a.
b.
c.
7.
was pretty?
was not pretty?
I d o n 't know.
Do you th in k the farmers who took care of E lise were
a.
b.
c.
6.
had been nice?
had not been nice?
I d o n 't know.
Do you th in k the queen the king married
a.
b.
c.
5.
She had moved away.
She had died.
I d o n 't know.
Do you th in k th a t t h e i r real mother
a.
b.
c.
4.
did not get along.w ith each other?
did get along w ith each other?
I d o n 't know.
Why do you th in k the c h ild r e n 's real mother was not l i v i n g
w ith them?
a.
b.
c.
3.
E lise and her brothers
d id n 't care about what happened?
was sad about what happened?
I d o n 't know.
Why do you th in k the king did not t r y to help E lis e and her
brothers?
a.
b.
c.
He d id n 't want to .
The queen had power over him.
I d o n 't know.
151
From the way the story was t o ld to you:
8.
Do you th in k the fo re s t E lise went in to
a.
b.
c.
9.
Do you th in k when E lis e met the old woman in the fo re s t th a t
Elise
a.
b.
c.
10.
being shot at by hunters?
not fin d in g enough food?
I d o n 't know.
When E lis e was f l y i n g in the net over the sea, do you th in k she
was
a.
b.
c.
13.
was fr ie n d ly to Elise?
d id n 't want to be bothered by Elise?
I d o n 't know.
When the brothers liv e d as swans, do you thin k they were most
a fra id of
a.
b.
c.
12.
was a fra id of her?
was not a fra id o f her?
I d o n 't know.
Do you th in k th a t the old woman in the fo re s t
a.
b.
c.
11.
was an ordinary forest?
had a magical power?
I d o n 't know.
frightened to be so high?
happy to be w ith her brothers?
I d o n 't know.
Do you th in k E lise
a.
b.
c.
lik e d her task because i t would free her brothers?
d is lik e d her task because i t would cause her a l o t a pain?
I d o n 't know.
152
14.
Which do you th in k best describes E lis e when the huntsmen fin d
her?
a.
b.
c.
She is worried she w ill be taken from her work.
She is pleased at the k in g 's a tte n tio n .
I d o n 't know.
From the way the s to ry was to ld to you:
15.
Which do you th in k best describes the bishop?
a.
b.
c.
16.
He wanted to know a ll th a t was going on.
He was an e v i l , mean person.
I d o n 't know.
Which of these do you th in k is most tru e about the story?
a.
b.
c.
I t is a sto ry about love and l i f e ' s bad times and good
tim es.
I t is a sto ry o f long ago when there was adventure and
magic.
I d o n 't know.
153
PART I I I
I.
TRUE
FALSE
E lise had a fo o ts to o l made of glass.
2.
TRUE
FALSE
E lise liv e d w ith the farmers only a few months.
3.
TRUE
FALSE
E lis e had th irte e n brothers who were turned
in to swans.
4.
TRUE
FALSE
A messenger to ld E lis e what happened to her
bro th e rs.
5.
TRUE
FALSE
While she s le p t in the fo re s t, E lis e dreamed
o f her b rothe rs.
6.
TRUE
FALSE
The swans wore royal purple capes on t h e ir backs.
7.
TRUE
FALSE
At sunset the swans were changed in to men.
8.
TRUE
FALSE
The swans c a rrie d E lis e on a net made o f rushes
and bark.
9.
TRUE
FALSE
The f a ir y in E lis e 's dream and the old woman in
the fo re s t did not look lik e each o th e r.
10.
TRUE
FALSE
I f E lis e ta lke d w h ile she k n it, her hands would
be too b lis te re d to work.
11.
TRUE
FALSE
The n e ttle s E lis e needed grew in graveyards.
12.
TRUE
FALSE
The people in the k in g 's co u rt did not th in k E lise
was b e a u tifu l.
13.
TRUE
FALSE
Elise- was frig h te n e d by the witches in the
graveyard.
14.
TRUE
15.
TRUE
FALSE
The s tic k s fo r the f i r e grew leaves and roses.
16.
TRUE
FALSE
The o ld e st brother was l e f t w ith a swan's wing
instead of an arm.
FALSE
While E lis e was in the dungeon, her brothers went
to the palace to t r y to see the kin g .
1 5 4
STORY TEXT
"THE WILD SWANS"
Far, fa r away, in a warm and pleasant land, there once liv e d a
king who had eleven sons and one daughter.
The princes wore stars on
t h e ir s h irts and swords at th e ir sides, and th e ir s is te r E lis e sat on
a fo o ts to o l made o f gla ss.
These c h ild re n were happy from the time
they woke in the morning u n til they went to t h e ir beds at n ig h t.
But a fte r some years had passed, the king married a wicked queen
who hated the ch ild re n and wanted only to be rid of them.
I t was not
long before the queen sent E lise away to be looked a fte r by farmers.
But the fa te of the princes was even worse.
"You sh a ll become great
voiceless birds and f l y out in to the w o rld ," she commanded.
the princes turned in to eleven w ild swans.
At once
With strange and mournful
c rie s , they flew from the palace windows and c irc le d the countryside
u n til they came to the place where ETise liv e d .
They hovered over
the ro o f, beating th e ir wings but by the tim e E lise came o u tside,
they had gone.
The years th a t passed were bleek and empty.
Then one b rig h t
morning a messenger from her fa th e r a rriv e d to t e l l E lise the sad fa te
o f her bro th e rs.
took a ll her l i f e .
fie ld s and h i l l s .
H o rrifie d * E lise resolved to fin d them, even i f i t
That n ig h t she s to le away and wandered over the
Tears streamed down her face.
At n ig h tfa ll she came in to a great fo r e s t.
The a ir was s t i l l
and m ild , and everywhere glowworms shone w ith a green f i r e .
lay down they cascaded upon her lik e shooting s ta rs .
As she
Al I n ig h t long
155
E lis e dreamed of her bro th e rs.
Once more they were c h ild re n playing
to g e th e r, carefree and loved.
But when she awoke she was alone in the fo re s t and she set out
again. She had walked only a few steps when she met an old woman.
E lis e asked i f she had seen eleven p rin ce s.
"No," said the old woman,
"but e a r lie r I saw eleven swans w ith golden crowns swimming down a
stream nearby."
She pointed the way, and E lis e follow ed the stream
u n til i t came out upon the open shore where before her lay the whole
immense sea.
E lis e threw h e rs e lf down and began to weep.
Suddenly on the sand
she saw eleven swans' feathers and as she looked up, to her jo y , E lise
saw eleven swans w ith golden crowns fly in g toward the shore.
As the
red disk o f the sun sank beneath the waves, they a lig h te d and one by
one they turned in to her bro th e rs.
She ran in to th e ir arms and they
laughed and crie d and held each other in the growing darkness.
The e ld e st to ld her t h e ir s to ry .
"As long as the sun is in the
sky we f l y about as w ild swans, but when nig ht comes, we re tu rn to
human shape.
That is why we must always search fo r s o lid ground at
sunset, fo r we would f a l l from the clouds to our deaths.
must f l y away to a land across the sea.
Tomorrow we
Have you the courage to come
w ith us?" "Yes!" c rie d E lis e .
So they spent th a t n ig h t making a net
from w illo w bark and rushes.
E lis e lay down upon i t and f e l l asleep.
At daybreak as the brothers were changed in to swans they seized the
net w ith t h e ir beaks and flew up to the clouds.
over the sea when E lise awoke.
They were fa r out
1 5 6
As the sun rose higher she began to see p ictu re s in the clou ds-mountains and fo re sts and shining palaces--and at la s t she looked down
and saw land.
The swans flew over cedar woods th a t smelled fra g ra n t
in the sunshine and set her before a cavern hung w ith d e lic a te green
p la n ts .
There she f e l l asleep, and dreamed th a t she flew up to the palaces
she had seen in the clouds.
A b e a u tifu l f a ir y came to her who looked
ju s t lik e the old woman she'd seen in the fo r e s t.
"Your brothers can
be fre e d ," she s a id , "but the pain you must bear is g re a t. Look c lo se ly
a t the s tin g in g n e ttle in my hand.
graves in churchyards.
Gather only those th a t grow on the
They w ill b lis t e r your s k in , but you must crush
them, spin the fla x and k n it i t in to eleven s h ir ts . When you throw
these over the w ild swans, the sp e ll w ill be broken. But remember--from
the time you begin the work u n til i t is ended, you must be s ile n t .
Your f i r s t word w ill pierce your b ro th e r's hearts lik e a sword."
Then
E lis e awoke and began her ta s k .
At sundown the brothers came back and were alarmed by her silence
and her b lis te re d hands, but they understood th a t her work was fo r
t h e ir sake.
The next day, as she k n itte d suddenly hunting horns rang
out and huntsmen appeared at the cavern.
The most handsone among them
was the king.
"Why are you hiding here, b e a u tifu l maiden?" he asked.
shook her head, not daring to speak.
E lise only
"Come w ith me," he said and the
king took her on his horse and galloped o f f among the mountains, to
h is m agnificent c it y .
He led her in to a b e a u tifu l palace where she
157
was brought before the c o u rt.
So g lo rio u s was her beauty th a t everyone
bowed down before her and the king took her fo r his b rid e .
Only the bishop was unmoved.
He.whispered th a t the fo re s t maiden
must be a w itch and th a t she had beguiled the king .
Though he d id n 't
want to , he was forced to marry them.
A fte r E lis e became queen the king led her to a l i t t l e
looked e xa ctly lik e the cavern in the fo r e s t.
and the s h irts were th e re .
chamber th a t
Her bundle of n e ttle s
As E lis e was shown a ll these thin gs the
king saw her smile fo r the f i r s t tim e and joyo usly embraced her.
As the days passed E lis e yearned to confide in the k in g , who loved
her and wanted so much to please her.
Each nig ht when he was sleeping
E lis e k n itte d , one s h ir t a fte r another.
she found there was no fla x l e f t .
But as she began the seventh
So one m oonlit n ig h t she s to le away
fe a r fu lly and walked to the churchyard alone where she found more
n e ttle s .
To her h o rro r though on the newly dug graves she saw a group
o f witches clawing at the earth w ith long bony fin g e rs .
She was not the only one who saw them.
The bishop who had f o l ­
lowed her saw them too and now was c e rta in E lis e was a w itc h .
Quickly
he to ld the king whose heart was broken.
Elisfe saw the k in g 's sorrow, and i t tro uble d her g re a tly , adding
to the pain she already f e l t fo r her b ro th e rs .
fin is h e d and had only one more s h ir t to k n it .
churchyard.
But now she was almost
She went again to the
This time the bishop and the king follow ed her.
When
the king saw the witches s it t in g on the graves he could watch no more
and c rie d , "Let the people judge h e r!" and they d id .
she was a w itch and must d ie by f i r e .
They declared
158
E lis e was led away to a dark dungeon where she continued k it t in g .
Toward evening a swan a lig h te d at her c e ll.
b ro th e r.
He had found E lis e at la s t!
I t was her youngest
She was so happy because though
she might soon be dead, her task was almost done and her brothers were
nearby.
Al I n ig h t long she worked.
S hortly before daybreak the eleven
brothers came to the palace and demanded to be taken before the king .
They begged and threatened u n til f i n a l ly the king appeared.
But at
th a t very moment the sun came up, and only eleven w ild swans could be
seen, fly in g away.
As the execution drew near a ll the people of the c it y streamed
from the gates to see the w itch d ie .
E lis e was taken to the f i r e in-
an open c a rt k n ittin g the la s t s h ir t .
The crowd je e re d , "Look at the w itc h !" and rushed at he r, but
eleven swans flew down upon the c a rt and beat t h e ir wide wings f u r i ­
o u sly.
The crowd moved back fe a r fu lly and some whispered, "Perhaps
th is is a sign from heaven and she is in n o ce n t!"
As the executioner took E lise by the hand she q u ic k ly threw the
eleven s h irts over the w ild swans and suddenly, eleven handsome princes
stood th e re , the youngest o f which had a swan's wing in place of an
arm, fo r E lis e had not time enough to fin is h his sleeve.
"Now I can speak!" she c rie d .
in to her b ro th e rs' arms, exhausted.
" I am inn ocen t!"
Then she f e ll
"Yes, she is in n o ce n t," said the
e ld e st and he to ld them a ll th a t had happened.
As he spoke the a ir was f i l l e d w ith perfume, fo r every stake in
the f i r e had grown leaves and red roses and at the very top shone a '
159
s in g le w hite rose.
When the king picked i t and held i t to her face
she awoke and smiled at him, fo r she had loved him from the beginning.
As they returned to the palace great flo c k s o f bird s appeared
and churchbells rang out throughout a ll the land.
160
APPENDIX C
INSTRUCTIONS TO TREATMENT GROUPS AND LOG
161
In s tru c tio n s to Treatment Groups
In s tru c tio n s were standardized except fo r deviation s as noted
below in the lo g .
The researcher introduced h e rs e lf as a lib r a r ia n working w ith the
elementary lib r a r ie s . Students were to ld they were part o f a p ro je ct
to fin d out what "kid s th in k about s to r ie s ." I t was explained they
would be presented a s to ry , th a t afterw ards they could stand up to "get
the kinks out" and then they would be given some questions to fin d out
what they thought about the s to ry .
The s t o r y te lle r was introduced. A fte r the presentations, she l e f t
and was not present during the a d m in is tra tio n o f the questions, except
during the la s t a d m in istra tio n on the la s t day.
The students helped pass out
the instrum ents were given to the
student. In the la t t e r case, the
and spoke his or her name to gain
m aterial (p e n cils and cardboard), and
students by the experimenter or by a
experimenter went to each student
f a m ilia r it y and e s ta b lis h rapport.
I t was explained th a t the instrum ent was not a regula r kind of
te s t but one used to determine what "k id s th in k about s to rie s " and th a t
there were three parts w ith no rig h t or wrong answers in the f i r s t two
and tru e -fa ls e questions in the t h ir d .
The researcher attempted to make the students fee l as relaxed and
com fortable as possible and to e s ta b lis h a nonthreatening atmosphere.
The d ire c tio n s were explained in fo rm a lly to the students, ra th e r than
fo rm a lly , to e s ta b lis h th is atmosphere.
The students were to ld th a t two other schools were in v o lv e d , th a t
each student was in d iv id u a lly id e n tifie d by the number at the top of
the page, and th a t th e ir answers would subsequently be fed in to a com­
p u te r.
Log - Data C o lle c tio n , May 4-11
The fo llo w in g de via tio n s from com pletely standardized procedures
occurred during data c o lle c tio n .
1.
Group I (May 4, Margaret Leary) a d m in is tra tio n o f questions
was in te rru p te d by an unexpected chorus rehearsal. Questions
had to be repeated lo u d ly and in some cases gone over again.
2.
Group 2 (May 4, Margaret Leary) was moved to a d iffe r e n t
lo c a tio n (a q u ie t corner of the lib r a r y ) to avoid having
in te rfe re n c e from a chorus rehearsal next door. Since the
school is an open space school, the students were probably
f a i r l y com fortable in the new s e ttin g .
162
3.
Students from one class reported t h e ir teacher had not in ­
formed them ahead of time of the p ro je c t.
4.
I f the students seemed to grow re s tle s s during adm inistra­
tio n of the questions, they were asked to stand up and
s tre tc h an a d d itio n a l tim e.
5.
Margaret Leary (May 4 ), a fifte e n minute recess separated
the f i r s t two presentations from the t h ir d ; Kennedy (May 8 ),
a t h i r t y minute recess separated the f i r s t two presentations
from the t h ir d ; Longfellow (May 11), no recess separated the
presen tatio ns.
6.
Group 7 (book and reader, Longfellow , May 11) in s tru c tio n
to the students to "pay close a tte n tio n " was in a d v e rte n tly
o m itte d . However, observation ind ica ted the students paid as
good, i f not b e tte r , a tte n tio n than other groups.
7.
Kennedy Groups 4, 5 and 6 were presented on Tuesday, May 8,
instead o f Monday, May 7, as scheduled because o f an unan­
tic ip a te d change of plans.
8.
Seating fo r Kennedy groups was not as com fortable because
the lib r a r y flo o r is not carpeted. Also, the room was not
as dark as in the other schools fo r the s lid e presentation
because of the lig h tin g c o n d itio n s .
9.
Groups which included a lte rn a te students because o f absences
were to ld th e ir names had been selected by a. computer. This
explanation proved valuable as one of the teachers stated a
c e rta in parent might ob ject to the s e le c tiv e grouping. In
th a t school, the s lid e show presentation was brought back
fo r the whole class the fo llo w in g week.
10.
With Groups 7 and 8, Longfellow , May 11, the experimenter
was introduced by an aide. Group 9, Longfellow , May 11, was
sent e a rly by the teacher, and the re was, consequently, a
delay in s e ttin g up the s lid e show.
11.
Two groups spontaneously applauded (Group I , Margaret Leary,
May 4, and Group 3, Longfellow , May 11).
12.
D elivery of the s to ry was very standardized fo r Groups I , 2,
4, 5, 7, and 8, although responsiveness of the students var­
ie d , Groups 4 and 5 being le a s t responsive, as observed by
the researcher.
13.
One o f the students (512) used a red p e n c il.
1 6 3
14.
Other deviations included: one loudspeaker in te rru p tio n
(May 4, Group I ) and students re tu rn in g lib r a r y books
(May 11, Group 7 .and Group 8 ).
15.
Other d e via tio n s included: one loudspeaker in te rru p tio n
(May 4, Group I ) and students re tu rn in g lib r a r y books
(May 11, Group 7 and Group 8 ).
I
APPENDIX D
STANDARDIZED DATA ON COMPARABLE STUDENT GROUPS
1982-1983 STANDARDIZED DATA ON COMPARABLE STUDENT GROUPS IN STUDY
School
Stanford
Stanford
O tis
Achieve­ O tis * Achieve­
Stanford Achievement
A b ilit y
ment
A b ilit y
ment*
Grade 6Grade 3 Grade 4 Grade 5 Stanine
Grade 2 — Stanine
Total
Total
Total
Liste ning
x O tis Language x O tis Language
Total
Sample. Score
Reading L iste n in g Comprehension Score
Sample
4
4
6
104
5
97
5
Kennedy
4
5
5
101
6
100
6
Blaine
7
7
6
94
7
95
4
Margaret Leary
5
6
8
105
7
97
5
W ebster-Garfield
6
5
7
102
6
99
5
Terms:
Grade 2 = Grade 2 students were the actual th ir d graders in th is study,
x = Mean O tis A b ilit y Score
Stanine = Stanine band
*Accelerated Learner Program students not included in th is data.
165
Longfellow
APPENDIX E
PERMISSIONS ■
167
tieptombor 7, 1983
Dr. Tim Sullivan
Curriculum Director
Butte School District No. I
111 N. Montana
Butte, MT 59701
Dear Dr. Sullivan:
As you know I am working on my doctoral diss.urtation at Montana Statu
University.
I am hoping you will give your approval for me to do a study this
school year with third grade students from the Butte School District.
If you
give your permission, I am hoping you will submit- this letter to Superintendent
Mr. Milligan for his approval.
The study I am proposing is a comparison of throe modes of story presentation:
a sound slide show, a book and reader and a story teller.
The study ties in
closely with library-media concerns since all three modes of story presentation
are common in school libraries.
The purpose of the study is to determine whether
each mode brings different content to the foreground of t he"children *s attention.
Altogether approximately 125 students would be involved.
I would like to
use four different schools - one for the piloting to determine instrument reliability,
and three for the actual study.
I would like to be able to use schools designated
by Mr. Milligan and yourself as ’’average" Butte schools.
For the actual study, each student would only be involved for about 40
minutes.
The presentations would tJe in closely with a library and/or literature
presentation, since a fairy tale is being used for the story, and hopefully the
presentations would be enriching and enjoyable for the students.
I appreciate your consideration of my request and will be happy to furnish
any additional information you or Mr. Milligan would like to have.
very much for your time!
Sincerely,
Thank you
!
168
B u tte P u b lic S c h o o ls
O fllce of Ihe Curriculum Director
Phone 782-6315
ext. 12 or 46
111 North Montana Street"
Butte, Montana 59701
Or. Tlm Sullivan
Curriculum Director
August 3, 1984
Margaret Rolando
2725 St. Anns
Butte, Montana 59701
Dear Mrs. Rolando:
This is to v e rify that you received permission from both Superintendent
W illiam M illig a n and myself during the Fall of 1983 to conduct your doctoral
research in Butte School D is tric t No. I . In a d d itio n , permission was granted
by a ll the princip als of the schools involved p rio r to conducting the research.
Dr. Tim Sullivan
Curriculum Director
TES:ib
AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER
169
May 31, 1983
Ms. Margaret Rolando
2725 St. Ann's
Butte, MT 59701
Dear Ms. Rolando:
We hereby grant you permission to use the name
Weston Woods in accordance with the request made in your
letter of May 22, 1983.
I would be interested in seeing a copy of your
dissertation upon completion, if it would be practical
for you to share it with me.
With best wishes for the success of your project,
Sincerely,
Morton Schindel
M S :br
western woods studios weston, ct. 06883
Telephone 800 2<i3-5020/ConnechcuM?03)?26-33r>5
DIAL BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS
A D ivision o f E .R D u tlo n 1 Inc
July 5, 1983
3 P A R K AV EN U E • N E W V O R K 1 N Y. 10016
( 212) 725-1818
Cable YA flD fAfl
M n . Margaret Rolando
2725 St. Ann's
Butte, MT 59701
Telex: 12-5636
Dear Mn. Rolando:
Thie will confirm our conversation of this m o m IMt that we will
grant you permission without charge to utilize THE WILD SWANS
by Hana Christian Andersen ♦ retold by Aray Ehrlich» and illustrated
by Susan Jeffers in your dissertation, now tentatively titled
THE STORY TELLER, THE READER, AND THE MEDIA: An Investigation
of Children's Perceptions of Story Context as Illustrated by
Three.Modes of Presentation, as partial fulfilment of the
degree requirements at Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana.
It is agreed that you will fully credit author, illustrator and
publisher of the title.
It is further understood, that this oermission covers use
for your dissertation in unpublished form only.
In the
event that your dissertation should be published, in whole or
in part, you will need to reanply to us.
With all best wd
Sincerely yours
Christopher M. I
Subsidiary Rights manager
. work.
MONTANA STATF iikm /rD cr-rv __________
D 378
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R o l a n d o , M. K.
An investigation of
children's perceptions,
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