Abstract
This study aimed to investigate both comprehension and production abilities of figures and tables. Although these cognitive tasks are incorporated in the curriculum in various subjects at elementary school, it is a fact that there are quite a number of students who feel difficulties in these tasks. Two groups participated in our investigation. One was 128 six graders who had almost finished their curriculum at elementary school, and the other was 126 undergraduate students who were considered to be more familiar with these tasks. We focused on the two points of information quantity and the form of presentation of figures and tables. Our results indicated that the way of comprehension varied when the form was different, and that the older participants were able to report not only the presented facts but also the inferences drawn from the facts. As for the production of figures, it was shown that even the younger participants could draw an appropriate figure when information quantity was limited. There was no consistent correlation between the comprehension and production in each participant.
