A COMPARISON OF THE FOCAL ATTENTION AND CONTEXTUAL THEORIES AS THEY RELATE TO THE GRAPHIC SIMILARITY AND THE LEVEL OF FREQUENCY OF THE WORDS TAUGHT

Two theories which have been advanced for the purpose of explaining word recognition learning through visual exposure are the focal attention and contextual theories. Previous research has not provided a clear‐cut answer as to which theory best explains this type of word learning. The present study was undertaken to examine the effect of the message level of the context in which the word was presented on the immediate and delayed recall of first graders. The subjects were 160 first graders from three schools randomly assigned to one of four varying instructional methods. The four words taught were presented in lists which varied in graphic similarity and in frequency. A three‐way analysis of variance was performed on the words learned and on the words remembered. The results indicated that only frequency and graphic similarity had a significant effect on immediate recall and only graphic similarity significantly affected the delayed recall. It was concluded that neither the focal attention or contextual theory offered a powerful explanation for words learned through visual exposure.