Effect of Set Size, Age, and Mode of Stimulus Presentation on Information-Processing Speed

Abstract

First, second, and third grade pupils served as Ss in an experiment designed to show the effect of age, mode of stimulus presentation, and information value on recognition time. Stimuli were presented in picture and printed word form and in groups of 2, 4, and 8. The results of the study indicate that first graders are slower than second and third graders who are neatly equal. There is a gross shift in reaction time as a function of mode of stimulus presentation with increase in age. The first graders take much longer to identify words than pictures, while the reverse is true of the older groups. With regard to set size, a slope appears in the pictures condition in the older groups, while for first graders, a large slope occurs in the words condition and only a much smaller one for pictures. For the older groups, there is no increase in reaction time with larger set sizes in the words condition, and, in fact, the values tend to decrease.