Nguyen, Nhan-Ai (2017) Age Effects in Category Instance Generation. Honours thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
Category norms have been used to assess cognitive function and semantic memory for decades, but little investigation has been made into the effect of ageing in category norm responses. The few studies who have done so yielded mixed results: some studies found participant responses were significantly different depending on age whilst some found no such difference. These studies have mostly focused on the qualitative aspects of category norms but the quantitative aspect may provide an alternative path to elucidate a basis for cognitive decline. The present study aimed to further explore age effects in category norms by comparing the number of category instances produced across different age groups using data from the Australian Normative Database (AND), an online database containing 1484 participant responses for 249 categories. All data was extracted and screening was done to ensure extremely idiosyncratic responses were eliminated. To examine age differences in the number of instances generated for a category, data for all 249 categories were extracted from the AND in three age groups: young (18-30 years old), middle-aged participants (31-50 years old), and older (51 years old or older) adults. A one-way analysis of variance suggests that older adults generate less responses than younger and middle-aged adults. The results will have implications for the structure of semantic memory, although more research is first needed in quantitative aspects of category norms with regards to age. Methodological issues are also considered and suggestions for future research are made.
|
Statistics for this ePrint Item |
| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Honours) |
|---|---|
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Current UniSQ staff and students can request access to this thesis. Please email research.repository@unisq.edu.au with a subject line of SEAR thesis request and provide: Name of the thesis requested and Your name and UniSQ email address |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Historic - Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - School of Psychology and Counselling (1 Jan 2015 - 31 Dec 2021) |
| Supervisors: | Liam Hendry |
| Qualification: | Bachelor of Science (Honours) |
| Date Deposited: | 20 Aug 2025 01:45 |
| Last Modified: | 20 Aug 2025 01:45 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | semantic ageing, semantic memory, age effects, category norms, Australian Normative Database |
| Fields of Research (2008): | 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1799 Other Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 179999 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences not elsewhere classified |
| Fields of Research (2020): | 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5299 Other psychology > 529999 Other psychology not elsewhere classified |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/52617 |
Actions (login required)
 |
Archive Repository Staff Only |
