Learning as a function of molar environmental complexity

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dc.contributor.authorPorteous, Carol Winifreden_US
dc.date.accessioned2024-08-15T17:16:34Z
dc.date.available2024-08-15T17:16:34Z
dc.date.copyright1972en_US
dc.date.issued1972
dc.degree.departmentDepartment of Psychology
dc.degree.levelMaster of Arts M.A.en
dc.description.abstractThe investigation was designed to determine the relationship between molar environmental complexity and learning. According to Trabasso's speculations, learning should be a decreasing linear function of increasing environmental complexity. Molar environmental complexity was defined and three complexity levels, high (HC), medium (MC), and low (LC), were designed. The levels of complexity were designated according to quantitative room content in terms of decor. Two separate experiments were conducted. The first, using 18 adults and 18 children, was designed to assess the three levels of environmental complexity in terms of the subject's conception of, preference for, and retention of information about the rooms and their contents. Questionnaire results for both adults and children indi­cated that the rooms differed reliably while the rating scales were reliable only in the case of the children. However, the results were sufficiently sound to permit the retention of these levels for the second experiment. The latter was designed to assess the functional relationship between environmental variables and learning. Thirty third grade and 30 fifth grade children were compared on an identical learning task over 6 training and 6 test trials. The results indicated that children at both age levels perform better in a less complex environment; the predicted linear trend (after Trabasso) was con­firmed. Although the result was statistically reliable, the environ­mental complexity effect accounted for only a small proportion of the variance. A predicted grade-performance difference was confirmed. 'Looking behaviour' was assessed, but proved to be statistically unreliable; there appeared to be no relationship between proportion learned and amount of time spent in looking at or attending to the environment. The study is regarded primarily as an exploratory investigation. Before any sound conclusion can be drawn, further investigation should be undertaken, preferably within the classroom environment.en
dc.format.extent129 pages
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1828/19332
dc.rightsAvailable to the World Wide Weben_US
dc.titleLearning as a function of molar environmental complexityen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US

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