| Abstract: | The effects of visually represented weight (absence or presence of a series of five weights: 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 g) and context cues (verbal alone, verbal plus graphic, or verbal plus pictorial) for a concrete weighing operation on the acquisition rate of three linear function rules were investigated along with a nonspecific transfer control condition in a rule learning paradigm. Multivariate analyses of variance of the time, instance, and error measures indicated that the graphic and pictorial context combined with the weight cue were more effective for the faster acquisition of the coefficient rule (a·F = S) than other conditions; that the weight and the context cues were independently effective for the faster acquisition of the coefficient rule (F + b = S); and that the observed effects diminished when transferred to the last complex linear function rule task (a·F + b = S), although training on the first two rules facilitated the acquisition of the last one as compared to the control. The findings were interpreted in terms of the notion of vividness of the image mediators the fourth-grade Ss apparently developed and utilized for the acquisition of the first two rules. |
