Simultaneous Presentation of Different Stimuli as an Assessment of Modal Preference

Abstract

This study attempted to identify modality preferences through a simultaneous presentation of auditory and visual stimuli. To achieve this purpose, a new paradigm for modal preference testing was designed. Thirty second grade students, all experiencing some reading difficulty, were exposed to a total of three treatments. All the treatments visually presented a series of five numbers while at the same time five different digits were being presented aurally. In treatment I, the subject was asked to recall any of the numbers. In treatment II, the subject was told to attend to the numbers he heard and recall them. In treatment III, the subject was directed to recall any of the visually presented numbers. The results of this study showed that thirty percent of the sample had a slight preferred mode of learning. Almost thirty percent of the students did equally well in both visual and auditory presented material, which means that by second grade most children have the capacity to learn in either the auditory or visual mode. Longitudinal studies are necessary to determine if modal preferences change as a person gets older.