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A PROPOSITIONAL ANALYSIS OF DEVELOPMENTAL DIFFERENCES IN NATURAL CATEGORY DEFINITIONS
Abstract
This study was designed to investigate the relationship between age and the propositional content of childrens' definitions of natural categories. Thirty-six subjects, 12 first grade students, 12 fourth grade students, and 12 seventh grade students, were asked individually to define six natural categories--ball, dog, flower, bird, tree, doll--and allowed one minute to freely respond to each stimulus word. Their responses were recorded and analyzed according to propositional content, into six response classifications--logical, featural, functional, actional, spatial, and affectional. A chi-square ($\chi\sp2$) test on proportions revealed a significant overall relationship between age and propositional content, $\chi\sp2$ (12,N = 36) = 24.66, p $<$.005. The nature of this relationship was found to involve primarily quantitative differences which is not in accordance with a general assumption that categorization criteria change qualitatively with age (e.g., Bruner, 1966). Thus, a number of theoretical and practical issues were raised.
Subject Area
Developmental psychology
Recommended Citation
ANDERSON, ROBERT HARGEN, "A PROPOSITIONAL ANALYSIS OF DEVELOPMENTAL DIFFERENCES IN NATURAL CATEGORY DEFINITIONS" (1987). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI8803989.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI8803989