Evertson, C. M. M. (1972). Stimulus concreteness, elaboration, and age in paired-associate learning. University of Texas at Austin.

One hundred twenty children, sixty each from nursery school and first grade classes, learned one of two types of paired-associate lists. Study pairs were composed of familiar concrete items and were presented either as line drawings, photographs, or objects in unmixed lists. Stimulus-response pairs were shown either as visual compounds, with the two terms depicted in some visual interaction, or pairs were presented separately with verbal contexts (i.e., verbal description of the depicted visual interaction). Three stimulus types, two modes of elaboration, and two age groups comprised the 3 x 2 x 2 factorial design. Predicted superiority of objects and photographs compared to drawings was supported. However, posited superiority of verbal contexts in drawings for four-year olds relative to seven-year olds was not found, thus failing to replicate previous research. Instead of an increase in performance with verbal contexts and drawings for four-year olds, there was an inferiority in performance for this group. As predicted there were no overall differences due to either mode of elaboration, however, an analysis of errors revealed that significantly more intralist intrusions occurred for children in the verbal context conditions regardless of age. Results partially support the view that line drawings may be abstract stimuli for young children.