ACTIVITY LEARNING AND THE OLDER WORKER

Abstract

Previous experiments have shown the superiority, especially for older recruits, of training methods where procedures of learning were incorporated into tasks involving activity. In the present paper, the so-called Activity Method is subjected to closer scrutiny in two laboratory experiments. In one experiment the subject was required to learn a concept of colour-picture relationship by placing numerous pictures onto a board, of different colours in such a way that the emergence of an overall concept depended on the activity itself. This form of active learning benefited all age groups, but especially older subjects. In the second experiment, subjects were required to memorize the relationship between a series of villages and the counties to which they belonged using a method which obliged the subjects to sort them on to a board. The manual activity involved in sorting the associates while learning thorn impeded the older subjects. It is postulated that Activity learning confers no benefit if it evokes a series of mechanical responses. On the other hand, where the activity engenders creative thinking, then it is a preferred method of learning.

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