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Abstract The study simulated some aspects of science classroom verbal interaction and experimentally investigated their cognitive effects on 159 4th graders divided into 12 experimental groups by stratified random sampling. Subject‐determined verbalization of correct information 2 levels about a science oriented task situation was crossed with subjects' exposure to external sources of verbalized correct information 3 levels about the task situation in a 2 × 3 × 2 factorial design in which sex was treated as an organismic independent variable. The dependent variable was the subjects' performance at a matrix multiple ordering task. The data were analyzed by a 3‐way ANOVA using .05 alpha level. The results showed that the female subjects significantly profited from teacher‐supplied information. The males seemed to make a better use of information gained directly from the materials. Teachers might therefore use a flexible approach in the classroom that would give the female students verbal hints about materials while training them to be more independent in collecting, organizing and using information.
E. ’Lanre Ogunyemi (Sat,) studied this question.