Date of Award
4-1993
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Dr. Jack L. Michael
Second Advisor
Dr. Anna Kay Campbell
Third Advisor
Dr. William Redmon
Access Setting
Masters Thesis-Open Access
Abstract
This study compared selection-based with topography-based learning of similar verbal relationships. In two previous studies, using developmentally disabled subjects, topography-based relations were easier to learn. The previous researchers suggested that the advantage of a topography-based system would increase as the number of relations to be learned increased.
To investigate this possibility, the present study used a 5 and 20-stimulus version of each system. Four independent groups of seven college students each were used in a two by two design. The selection-based task consisted in learning to point to the Japanese character appropriate for each English sample. The topography-based task consisted in learning to say the Japanese word for each English sample.
With the 5-stimulus task, both kinds of verbal relations were about equally difficult to learn, but with the 20-stimulus task the selection-based relations were easier to learn than the topography-based relations. These results contradict the earlier findings.
Recommended Citation
Stratton, Matthew A., "Comparing Selection-Based and Topography-Based Language Systems with Verbal Adults Learning Japanese Words" (1993). Masters Theses. 821.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/821