Easy as ABCABC: Abstract Language Facilitates Performance on a Concrete Patterning Task [Labeling patterns with abstract labels vs. labeling patterns with concrete labels]
Fyfe, Emily R.; McNeil, Nicole M.; Rittle-Johnson, Bethany (2015). Child Development, v86 n3 p927-935. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1060670
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examining62Students, gradePK
Practice Guide
Review Details
Reviewed: April 2022
- Practice Guide (findings for Labeling patterns with abstract labels)
- Randomized Controlled Trial
- Meets WWC standards without reservations because it is a randomized controlled trial with low attrition.
This review may not reflect the full body of research evidence for this intervention.
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Findings
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Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Solve Items (Rittle-Johnson et al., 2013) |
Labeling patterns with abstract labels vs. Intervention |
0 Days |
Full sample;
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5.40 |
3.10 |
Yes |
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|
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Sample Characteristics
Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.
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Female: 45%
Male: 44% -
Urban
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Tennessee
Study Details
Setting
Children were recruited from six pre-kindergarten centers in the Nashville, Tennessee area. The pre-kindergarten centers predominantly serve White, middle-class populations.
Study sample
Of the 62 children in the study, 28 were female. Specific characteristics about the sample are not described.
Intervention Group
Children met with an experimenter for a single 20-minute session. The session entailed a pre-test item, three example items, and eight items in which children had to identify and produce a pattern based on an abstract (e.g., AAB, ABA) pattern. Pattern abstraction is recreating a model pattern using different materials. The results of the eight items comprise the outcome measure.
Comparison Group
The comparison condition was identical to the intervention condition except that the 20-minute session used a concrete (e.g., blue-blue-green, square-circle-square) pattern given. In this condition, patterns are described by the color or shape of the elements.
Support for implementation
N/A
An indicator of the effect of the intervention, the improvement index can be interpreted as the expected change in percentile rank for an average comparison group student if that student had received the intervention.
For more, please see the WWC Glossary entry for improvement index.
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The sample on which the analysis was conducted.
The group to which the intervention group is compared, which may include a different intervention, business as usual, or no services.
The timing of the post-intervention outcome measure.
The number of students included in the analysis.
The mean score of students in the intervention group.
The mean score of students in the comparison group.
The WWC considers a finding to be statistically significant if the likelihood that the finding is due to chance alone, rather than a real difference, is less than five percent.
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A related publication that was reviewed alongside the main study of interest.
Study findings for this report.
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non-regulatory guidance for ESSA
and the regulations for ED discretionary grants (EDGAR Part 77).