THE INTERACTIVE EFFECTS OF FIELD DEPENDENCE AND ADJUNCT QUESTIONS ON LEARNING FROM PROSE BY LIBRARY/INFORMATION SCIENCE STUDENTS (TRAIT TREATMENT, MATHEMAGENIC EFFECT, REGRESSION ANALYSIS, PSYCHOLOGICAL DIFFERENTIATION, FIELD ORIENTATION)

The purpose of this study was to determine (1) if there is a trait-treatment interaction between the field orientation of the learner and question treatment as measured by the effects on short-term retention of intentional, incidental and total learning; and (2) the effect of varying the placement of the questions in the text.;A posttest only control group design was used to test eight hypotheses at the .05 level. Regression analysis was used to analyze the data. Significant interactions were found for incidental and total short-term retention. The Johnson-Neyman technique was used to determine the range of values which described these interactions. As there was no significant interaction for intentional learning, the common regression coefficient was tested and the common regression equation for intentional learning was obtained.;Field-dependence-independence did interact with the adjunct questions treatments to affect learning differentially for field-dependent and field-independent learners. Findings indicated that (1) for subjects tending toward field-dependence, prequestions facilitated incidental and total short-term retention more than either postquestions or no questions; (2) for subjects tending toward field-independence, incidental and total short-term retention was not facilitated with prequestions, whereas postquestions facilitated incidental and total short-term retention more than no questions. (3) Field-independents scored higher than field-dependents on all three outcome measures under the no questions condition; and (4) field-independents scored higher than field-dependents on intentional learning under the prequestions and postquestions conditions as well.;The study supports Witkin's theory of psychological differentiation. The findings have practical implications, suggesting the most effective placement of adjunct questions in text for FD and FI learners, and reinforcing the need for individualized instruction so that the most effective instructional strategy can be prescribed for a given learner based on individual differences like field-dependence-independence.;Subjects, 104 graduate students in library and information science, were randomly assigned to one of three treatment conditions. Treatment materials were twelve prose passages about videodisc technology with prequestions, postquestions, or no questions. Subjects were given the Group Embedded Figures Test, and a criterion-referenced posttest.