A researcher investigated whether learning a route from a diagram was more effective than learning it from written directions. A local training centre offered two existing introductory navigation classes, each containing 16 adults. The researcher recruited all consenting members of these classes because they were accessible. Most participants regularly used maps during outdoor activities. Participation was optional, and results did not contribute to course grades.

The researcher conducted a quasi-experiment using the existing classes. One class learned a route through an unfamiliar public building from a labelled diagram. The other learned the same route from written directions describing each turn and landmark. Both materials contained the same route information and were available for eight minutes. Participants then completed an unrelated activity for ten minutes before attempting the route individually without the learning materials.

The diagram class attended in the morning and received instructions from its usual teacher. The written-directions class attended in the evening and received instructions from the researcher. Each instructor was asked to read the same introductory script. Participants' previous navigation experience was not recorded. An observer followed each participant and counted incorrect turns using a prepared checklist. The observer knew which material each participant had studied. Participants could request assistance if they became uncomfortable, although none did.

The diagram class made a mean of two incorrect turns, compared with five in the written-directions class. The researcher reported that diagrams produced better learning. Several participants in the written-directions class commented that unfamiliar location names had been difficult to remember. A teacher suggested that diagrams should replace written route instructions for all learners, including children and people learning in a second language. The researcher agreed, although neither group had been included in the sample and the study involved only one building.

Discuss this study with reference to two or more of the following concepts: bias, causality, measurement and perspective.

Researchers investigated whether receiving feedback about improvement helped adults learn unfamiliar visual puzzles. Forty employees volunteered following an email from their workplace training manager. They were randomly allocated to two groups of 20. The information sheet described a study of puzzle learning, stated that participation would not affect employment and explained that some details would be withheld until the end. Participants could withdraw while retaining a shopping voucher offered for participation.

In this independent-measures experiment, everyone first attempted ten puzzles. Participants then received a ten-minute practice session using worked examples. During practice, one group received messages such as “Your performance is improving faster than that of most participants.” These messages appeared at fixed intervals and were unrelated to actual performance. The comparison group received only messages indicating how much practice time remained. Both groups saw the same examples for the same total time.

After practice, everyone completed ten new puzzles of similar difficulty. The number solved correctly was scored using a fixed answer key. Mean scores increased from four to seven in the improvement-message group and from four to five in the comparison group. The researchers concluded that positive feedback produced a lasting improvement in learning and recommended using similar messages during workplace training.

Immediately afterwards, participants were told that the improvement messages had been predetermined. Two participants said they felt embarrassed that they had believed the messages. The researchers explained the purpose, answered questions and offered removal of individual results for one week. Individual scores were stored under codes, with a separate file linking codes to names. The training manager subsequently requested the names of employees who had improved most, but the researchers declined. No later puzzle assessment or assessment of actual workplace learning was conducted.

Discuss this study with reference to two or more of the following concepts: responsibility, causality, measurement and change.

A researcher investigated whether a title influenced what people remembered from an ambiguous story. Thirty adults volunteered through a public library newsletter. The researcher randomly allocated 15 participants to each of two conditions. Everyone read the same short story about people moving objects between rooms. One group saw the title “Preparing a celebration”; the other saw “Clearing a workplace”. Participants had four minutes to read and then completed a five-minute unrelated task.

Participants next wrote everything they remembered from the story. They had been informed about the reading and writing tasks, their right to withdraw and the confidential handling of responses, but not the predicted effect of the titles. The researcher expected the celebration title to produce more references to social activities. Before collecting data, the researcher wrote a brief note describing this expectation but did not prepare detailed scoring rules.

The researcher scored each account for the number of remembered details and the number of added details that had not appeared in the story. Group membership was visible during scoring. Expressions such as “getting ready for guests” were sometimes classified as added details and sometimes as acceptable summaries, depending on the surrounding account. After reviewing the initial results, the researcher combined summaries and added details into a category called “title-related recall”. No second person checked these decisions.

The celebration group produced a mean of six title-related statements and the workplace group a mean of three. The researcher concluded that the celebration title had a stronger influence on memory. At debriefing, several participants said they had understood the story differently because of their work or family experiences. Responses were retained under identification codes for one month so participants could request removal. The researcher proposed using the findings to explain why readers remember the same news report differently.

Discuss this study with reference to two or more of the following concepts: bias, measurement, perspective and responsibility.