TEACHING CLASSIFICATION AND SERIATION TO PRESCHOOLERS

A learning set method was used to teach simple classification and seriation constructs to 3 1/2 year old children. Researchers devised numerous games that involved classification or seriation and played one or more of them with the children once daily for six months. A singlesubject multiple baseline design with three replications was employed to test the effectiveness of the games. Each child improved significantly on classification when taught classification and on seriation when taught seriation. The gains were substantial, and were maintained over the course of the experiment. While the children generalized their new understanding of classification and serlation to problems different from those which they had been taught, evidence for a more general cognitive gain that extended to other cognitive abilities was equivocal.