Some Characteristics of Word Classification

Abstract

An exploratory study is reported which investigates the effect of given structure on word classification. Subjects have to complete, by selection from a number of alternative items, a word list whose initial entries are systematically varied in relative position from subject to subject. The alternative items fall into three reference categories, Vegetables, Birds and Mammals, but only two are represented by the given entries. The hypothesis that the positional relation of the given words will influence completion strategy is confirmed, and there is some indication of the effect of increasing the initial representation of one of the given topics. The relation between use of the given topic and separation from the given item in subjects' completions is described, and attention is drawn to an underlying consistency in the grouping shown by many of the classifications.