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The Use of Concrete Examples Enhances the Learning of Abstract Concepts: A Replication Study

Alexia Micallef, Phil Newton Orcid Logo

Teaching of Psychology, Volume: 51, Issue: 1, Pages: 22 - 29

Swansea University Author: Phil Newton Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1177/00986283211058069

Abstract

Background: Prior research suggests that the teaching of abstract concepts can be enhanced by the use of concrete examples, but there are few controlled studies. Objective: To replicate key findings from experiment one from Rawson et al. (2015). Method: Experiment participants studied definitions of...

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Published in: Teaching of Psychology
ISSN: 0098-6283 1532-8023
Published: SAGE Publications 2022
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa59139
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first_indexed 2022-01-10T17:36:26Z
last_indexed 2023-01-11T14:40:12Z
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spelling v2 59139 2022-01-10 The Use of Concrete Examples Enhances the Learning of Abstract Concepts: A Replication Study 6e0a363d04c407371184d82f7a5bddc8 0000-0002-5272-7979 Phil Newton Phil Newton true false 2022-01-10 MEDS Background: Prior research suggests that the teaching of abstract concepts can be enhanced by the use of concrete examples, but there are few controlled studies. Objective: To replicate key findings from experiment one from Rawson et al. (2015). Method: Experiment participants studied definitions of abstract concepts from psychology, either with or without concrete examples. The replication differed from Rawson et al. by using a paid online participant pool, of non-psychology students, and a trimmed methodology focused on the key outcome. Results: Concrete examples enhanced learning of abstract concepts. The critical finding was enhanced recognition of previously unseen examples matched to learned definitions, thus replicating the results of Rawson et al., with an effect size d = 0.30. Conclusion: The use of concrete examples was found to enhance learning of abstract concepts when teaching concepts from psychology to non-psychology students using an online paid participant pool. Teaching Implications: The teaching of abstract concepts in psychology could be helped by frequent use of concrete, real-world examples. Journal Article Teaching of Psychology 51 1 22 29 SAGE Publications 0098-6283 1532-8023 Learning science, teaching effectiveness, instructional methods, replication 20 1 2022 2022-01-20 10.1177/00986283211058069 COLLEGE NANME Medical School COLLEGE CODE MEDS Swansea University 2024-06-05T16:40:32.4490286 2022-01-10T15:57:41.0446888 Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences School of Psychology Alexia Micallef 1 Phil Newton 0000-0002-5272-7979 2 59139__22554__6fc4e7a324b1408396691648b6a94d94.pdf 59139.pdf 2022-03-09T12:02:55.8738036 Output 661193 application/pdf Version of Record true © The Author(s) 2022. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License. true eng https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
title The Use of Concrete Examples Enhances the Learning of Abstract Concepts: A Replication Study
spellingShingle The Use of Concrete Examples Enhances the Learning of Abstract Concepts: A Replication Study
Phil Newton
title_short The Use of Concrete Examples Enhances the Learning of Abstract Concepts: A Replication Study
title_full The Use of Concrete Examples Enhances the Learning of Abstract Concepts: A Replication Study
title_fullStr The Use of Concrete Examples Enhances the Learning of Abstract Concepts: A Replication Study
title_full_unstemmed The Use of Concrete Examples Enhances the Learning of Abstract Concepts: A Replication Study
title_sort The Use of Concrete Examples Enhances the Learning of Abstract Concepts: A Replication Study
author_id_str_mv 6e0a363d04c407371184d82f7a5bddc8
author_id_fullname_str_mv 6e0a363d04c407371184d82f7a5bddc8_***_Phil Newton
author Phil Newton
author2 Alexia Micallef
Phil Newton
format Journal article
container_title Teaching of Psychology
container_volume 51
container_issue 1
container_start_page 22
publishDate 2022
institution Swansea University
issn 0098-6283
1532-8023
doi_str_mv 10.1177/00986283211058069
publisher SAGE Publications
college_str Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
department_str School of Psychology{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Psychology
document_store_str 1
active_str 0
description Background: Prior research suggests that the teaching of abstract concepts can be enhanced by the use of concrete examples, but there are few controlled studies. Objective: To replicate key findings from experiment one from Rawson et al. (2015). Method: Experiment participants studied definitions of abstract concepts from psychology, either with or without concrete examples. The replication differed from Rawson et al. by using a paid online participant pool, of non-psychology students, and a trimmed methodology focused on the key outcome. Results: Concrete examples enhanced learning of abstract concepts. The critical finding was enhanced recognition of previously unseen examples matched to learned definitions, thus replicating the results of Rawson et al., with an effect size d = 0.30. Conclusion: The use of concrete examples was found to enhance learning of abstract concepts when teaching concepts from psychology to non-psychology students using an online paid participant pool. Teaching Implications: The teaching of abstract concepts in psychology could be helped by frequent use of concrete, real-world examples.
published_date 2022-01-20T16:40:31Z
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score 11.016235

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