Differential Importance of Hierarchical Learning, Abstractness, and Imagery

Abstract

This research examined the relative contribution of hierarchical sequencing, abstractness, and imagery to learning. In the past, hierarchical, logical sequencing was not shown to be superior to other modes of instruction, and the interaction of imagery, abstractness, and sequencing had not been examined, especially regarding the possible superiority of any of these as a contributor to learning. The data were produced by 108 high school students who studied sequences of hierarchically related information arranged in a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design the dimensions of which varied according to the degree of imagery (high and low), abstractness (abstract and concrete), and type of sequencing (logical and scrambled). Analyses of the amount of learning under these conditions showed that hierarchical sequencing is not only relevant to learning but more related than either imagery or the abstractness of material to be learned. Additional suggestions are made regarding instruction and research especially in relation to matrix rather than hierarchical arrangements of information.