Date of Award

1980

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

Abstract

This research study was conducted to determine whether children's attitudes are affected differently by listening to didactic literature than by listening to literature with subtle literary style. The five attitudes examined were generosity, greed, perseverance, quarreling, and respect for others. Forty-eight third-grade pupils from two classrooms were randomly assigned to three treatment groups. The three treatments were (1) a McGuffey Reader Treatment, in which subjects listened to selections from McGuffey readers which were written in a didactic literary style; (2) a Dr. Seuss Book Treatment, in which subjects listened to stories and books authored by Dr. Seuss which represented a subtle literary style; and (3) a Control Group, in which subjects were not read stories. After listening to a selection, subjects were administered an attitudinal scale. The same scale was administered at a later date as a follow-up measure. Analysis of the data indicated no statistically significant difference (p > .05) between treatment group for generosity, greed, quarreling, and respect for others. The Dr. Seuss Book Treatment group scored significantly higher (p < .05) for perseverance than the McGuffey Reader Treatment group and the Control Group. The results from the follow-up measure yielded statistical significance at the .01 level (p < .01) for perseverance for the Dr. Seuss Book Treatment group and at the .05 level (p < .05) for quarreling for the McGuffey Reader Treatment group. No statistically significant difference over a period of time was found for generosity, greed, and respect for others.

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