Media effects on prose learning in two populations of children.

Assessed prose learning in 84 high-socioeconomic status (SES) White and 84 low-SES Black 4th graders as a function of presentation media, test-item structure, and response methods. The 7 presentation conditions included both single media--oral, print, and pictures--and combined media. The learning of intra and intersentence relations was tested by means of assertion-verification, short-answer, and free recall methods. While all of these variations contributed to performance differences, major emphasis was given to discrepancies in the media effects observed in the 2 populations. For low-SES Black Ss, performance in the combined media conditions, especially in oral plus pictures, was superior to that in single-media conditions, whereas among high-SES White Ss combinations of media were of little benefit. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)