Differential response to structure of advance organizers in science instruction

In an experiment designed to investigate individual differences in learning from written materials preceded by advance organizers, 89 fourth‐grade subjects were randomly assigned to treatment conditions in which programmed material on insects was preceded by one of three introductory passages containing: (1) higher level generalizations and specific examples; (2) higher level generalizations without examples; or (3) a control passage. Membership in treatment groups was determined by random assignment. Criterion performances were immediate and delayed posttest performance and errors during instruction. Analysis of variance results of treatment effects showed that the three treatments were about equally effective in terms of promoting retention and program errors. Simple regression analysis of Aptitude × Treatment interactions disclosed that Otis‐Lennon IQ scores interacted significantly with instructional treatments for program errors showing a negative relationship between IQ scores and the degree of structure provided by the advance organizers.