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Dissertation
Children's naming of subject categories: developmental differences in the invariant properties of category labelling
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Drexel University
Jun 1994
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/00000494
Abstract
In 65-80% of their tries, children and adults, both, fail to name search terms that match or nearly match existing subject-headings. We raise the question: Why does an increase in cognitive development not produce an increase in concept-based retrieval success? We explore (1) the concept, "search term;" (2) the characteristics of words used as search term; and (3) the effect of changes in those characteristics as new words are selected to function as the search term. Subject-labels named by students in elementary school through college are examined to determine the relationship between the subject-labels' non-semantic characteristics (affordances) and the degree of match to existing subject-headings. A cross-sectional study was conducted with students in elementary-, middle-, high-school and college. Students read descriptions of complex categories (titles and brief abstracts of books) and named a first and second term which they would use to find a book containing the same information. In two experiments, students read (1) single book descriptions; and (2) descriptions of groups of three books which share a common subject-heading. The students' grade level was found to significantly affect search term concreteness and to marginally affect search term complexity, while grade level was not found to significantly affect the syndetic (connective) relations between sequential subject-labels. We found that an unsuccessful search term was improved by changing affordance values from compound to simple and from abstract to concrete. We found that the single best predictor of a successful search term is complexity of subject-label (simple v. compound). In a prototypicality study, the existing subject-heading was among the most frequently named subject-labels in eighty percent of the experimental items. That statistic notwithstanding, the previously found match-failure rates of 60-70% were confirmed at all age levels. Subject match-failure appears to be attributable, in part, to observed developmental trends in category labelling; such trends work against match-success. The presence of subject-headings in category descriptions appears to contribute to match-success. Intervention techniques are suggested that would begin at the elementary grades.
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Details
- Title
- Children's naming of subject categories
- Creators
- Mary Esther Brown
- Contributors
- Gary W. Strong (Advisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Drexel University
- Degree Awarded
- Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
- Publisher
- Drexel University; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Number of pages
- xi, 186 pages
- Resource Type
- Dissertation
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- College of Information Studies (1984-1995); Drexel University
- Other Identifier
- 991014970330004721