Class Inclusion: Effect of Response Variation on Assessment of Preschool Children's Performance

To investigate the effect of response variation in the assessment of preschool children's performance on a class-inclusion task 52 girls and boys, 4 and 5 yr. of age, were randomly assigned to verbal and manual response conditions on a class-inclusion task. Judgments and explanatory responses were scored separately and two-way analyses of variance were conducted on each set of scores. Children in the manual condition scored significantly higher than those in the verbal condition; however, there was no indication that full mastery of class inclusion could be elicited earlier by the manual condition. There was no main effect due to sex, but there was an interaction of sex by procedure.