DEVELOPMENT AND FIRST STEPS TOWARDS CONST RUCT-VALIDATION OF A TREATMENT-ORIENTED SHORT-TERM LEARNING-ABILITY TEST FOR PRESCHOOL-CHILDREN

Based on treatment-oriented diagnostics aiming at the identification o f optimal individual learning conditions, the construction of a short- term learning test using matrices for pre-school children is presented . The procedure intends to portray the zone of proximal development ac cording to Wygotski. On the basis of Galperin's learning theory on the one hand and a theoretical as well as empirical item analysis on the other, a hierarchical support system ii established which conveys cros s classifications at both action- and language-levels necessary for th e solution. Hypotheses based upon the test's concept wire examined exp erimentally; using a four-group test, design including repeated measur es toward construct validation. In the course of this study, 132 3- to 5-year old kindergarden children were given: in the first instance, t welve matrices as a status test. About 2 weeks later. the same tasks w ere again submitted to all test persons, but under different condition s. The first group got the complete learning support system (both acti on and language level), the second and third roup got different parts thereof (action or language level, respectively), and the fourth one d id not get any learning support. The results show that the learning su pport system tallies with the hypotheses formulated. On the one hand, considerable learning effects could be observed under all learning con ditions as compared with the control group; and, on the other hand, tr ansmitting the concepts necessary for cross-classification at the lang uage level proved to be a significantly superior learning support. Alt ernative explanatory approaches as well as possible practical conseque nces are discussed.