Date of Award
1980
Document Type
Thesis
Publication Status
Version of Record
Submission Date
October 2026
Abstract
Several studies have found recall and clustering performance of young children to be greater with non-taxonomic (NT) than with taxonomic (T) materials, while other studies have found the reverse. The present experiment has tried to resolve this discrepancy by introducing the variable of criterion vs single sorting prior to recall. A comparison of Immediate and Delayed recall between child-generated T and child-generated NT categories under criterion (two consecutive identical sorts) and single sorting conditions was used to assess the differences in these T and NT grouping patterns as a basis for organizing recall. Although there were no significant interactions with delay, when subjects sorted only once, recall performance was greater with T related materials. However, when subjects sorted to a stable criterion of two consecutive identical sorts, recall performance with NT related materials was greater than performance with T related materials. These results suggest that under single sorting conditions, the use of T categories may have resulted in a better fit with the child's semantic memory structure than NT groupings. However, with stable sorting, both T and NT grouping patterns were equally consolidated into the memory structure, making them both equally retrievable.
Extent
64 p.
Recommended Citation
ZAKEN, FLORA JANE, "TAXONOMIC AND NON-TAXONOMIC CLUSTERING AND RECALL OF YOUNG CHILDREN IN A SORTING AND DELAYED RECALL TASK" (1980). Electronic Theses and Dissertations 1980 - 1989. 64.
https://digitalcommons.fau.edu/etd_general_3/64
Identifier
FADT14009
Comments
Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1980.|Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1980.