Seventy-two students, identified as either concrete or abstract thinkers through the use of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children Similarities Subtest, were randomly selected from Grades 4, 6, and 8 and used as subjects in a complex concept identification task developed by the authors. The task consisted of categorizing a set of 40 slides depicting concepts of freedom, nonfrecdom, justice, and nonjustice. The results of the 2X3x2 analysis of variance indicated that abstract thinkers performed significantly better than did concrete thinkers, p < .01, and that performance increased as a function of grade level, p < .01. There were no significant sex differences or interaction effects. The results were interpreted in terms of their implications for classroom teachers and curriculum planning from the point of view of the development levels of children.
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