Word Association and Formal Training of the Written Language: Consolidation of the Response Base

Abstract

Commonalities of adult word associations with 659 stimulus words were examined as a function of the elementary school grade level at which the words are formally introduced in their written form. There was a systematic decrease in the commonality of associates as a function of the grade level at which a stimulus word is introduced. A random sample of 20 words from each grade level showed that 64% of the primary responses to these words had been introduced in written form before the second grade. This suggests that early experiential associates of the spoken language become consolidated into more succinct networks. To investigate a possible paired-associate type of learning as an explanation for the high commonality of words learned early, associations of children in kindergarten through the fifth grade were obtained with 70 of the 659 words (10 from each grade level from kindergarten through sixth grade). Three significant effects of commonality were noted: (1) words introduced in the second grade had the highest commonalities regardless of the grade of the child, (2) the commonality of a word had a tendency to increase in the grade when it was introduced (even though responses by children in preceding grades indicated familiarity with the word), (3) the commonality of a given word increased at each succeeding grade level even though the children's vocabulary was steadily expanding. The commonalities observed for children and adults are discussed in terms of time and manner of formal introduction of the written words.