Ruth M. Riegel

A comparison of the first and second languages of American and Spanish students

Twenty-four American and 24 Spanish Ss gave restricted associations both in English and in Spanish to 35 stimuli under seven different instructions. Second-language learners left more blanks in their records than native speakers. This was particularly true for American Ss studying Spanish. In both languages, the response variability was greater for Spanish than for Amerian Ss. However, American Ss were superior when the degree of conceptual clarity was analyzed by counting the response repetitions per stimulus that occur under different task instructions. Interpretations were given in terms of growth of vocabulary and in terms of the acquisition of the conceptual, semantic systems of the target language.

Prediction of Word-Recognition Thresholds on the Basis of Stimulus-Parameters*

The effect of stimulus-parameters on word-recognition thresholds was investigated. Fifty words were tachistoscopically administered to 24 subjects with an average age of 16 4 years. Of the 40 parameters analyzed, the following were the best predictors of the thresholds and were included in a multiple regression equation: (a) Classification of words into concrete nouns vs. all others; (b) Classification of words with vs. without prefixes; (c) Logarithms of word-frequencies; (d) Number of letters. The multiple correlation (0 74) and the correlation with the logarithms of word-frequencies (-0 50) are surprisingly low. The correlations could be raised considerably if counts of childrens rather than adults language were used. Based on this finding and the high correlation between thresholds and our classification of concrete nouns and other words, it was concluded that recognition of words is to a greater degree dependent on the frequency with which subjects had prior experiences with objects (or perceptual images) rather than on the frequency with which subjects had perceived or used the names attached to them.

An Investigation into Denotative Aspects of Word-Meaning

Five tasks of restricted associations (synonyms, co-ordinates, superordinates, attributes, and antonyms) were applied to analyse some aspects of denotative meaning. Nine subjects gave two responses each to 120 German words and under all five conditions. The results of factor analyses indicated most clearly the prevalence of a superordinate - co-ordinate dimension and its high stability across form classes. Other factors are : attribute - synonyms, antonyms - synonyms, and co-ordinate -synonyms. Thus, synonyms seem to indicate least clearly the denotative meaning of words. Interpretations and rationales for the procedure are presented.