Abstract
Researchers have continued to echo McGeoch and Irion's (1952) statement concerning the superiority of the auditory modality for young children and the visual modality for older children in paired-associate learning despite conflicting results. In the present study, in which the performance of second and fifth grade children on a paired-associate task under 6 different modes of presentation was compared, mode of presentation did not vary as a function of age. The picture/sound combined condition was superior to the sound and printed/spoken-word conditions but provided no advantage over the picture condition alone. No significant differences were found among the printed-word, spoken-word, and combined printed/spoken-word conditions. Difficulties in making comparisons among studies because methods differed and implications for further research were discussed.