IMAGES, WORDS, AND QUESTIONS - VARIABLES THAT INFLUENCE BELIEFS ABOUTVISION IN CHILDREN AND ADULTS

In three studies we used animated computer graphics to examine beliefs among children and adults that vision involved input to the eyes (the intromission theory) or emissions from the eye (the extramission theo ry). Results supported previous findings which showed a decrease in ex tramission and an increase in intromission responses across age. The f indings also indicated that there were more extramission interpretatio ns when subjects were tested with graphic images, and more intromissio n interpretations when the questioning was purely verbal. However, the magnitude of the effect was highly dependent upon question format. Th e differences between graphic and verbal question presentations (A) ar e consistent with our theory on the origins of extramission beliefs, ( B) suggest that beliefs can vary as a function of form of symbolizatio n, and (C) are contrary to long-standing beliefs of educators and psyc hologists that emphasize the importance of concrete, pictorial represe ntation. (C) 1996 Academic Press, Inc.