Hunter, Renee (2011) Investigating Generational Stability of Top Category Responses Between the 1969 and 1982 Category Norming Studies and Current Australian Norms. Honours thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
Category norms are an invaluable tool for researchers and clinicians in the field of cognition. Category norms are collected by asking people to provide a response or instance to a given category. In 1957, the first set of norms was collected by Cohen, Bousfield and Whitmarsh, and since that time one of the most notable and well-used normative studies on category norming is that of Battig and Montague (1968). In this definitive paper, the question of how long norming data remains up-todate was first considered. The current paper is also concerned with investigating whether category norms remain stable over the passage of time. In order to explore how the passage of time interacts with category responses, three groups were formed, using data from the Australian Normative Database (which included samples collected by the primary researcher), as well as equivalent data from the Battig and Montague (1969) study and the McEvoy and Nelson (1982) study. Participants in the Battig and Montague (1969) study would have been aged approximately 18 (+/-3) at the time of sampling, and would be aged approximately 60 (+/-3) in 2011. Accordingly, selection of data for the current study comprised participants aged between 57 and 63, for comparison with the Battig and Montague sample. Similarly, participants in the McEvoy and Nelson (1982) study would have been aged approximately 18 (+/-3) at the time of sampling, and would now be aged approximately 46 (+/- 3). Thus participants aged from 43 to 49 were selected to form a suitable comparison group for the McEvoy and Nelson (1982) data. The participants aged 43 to 49 years (inclusive), consisted of 52 people with a mean age of 46.08 years (SD = 1.79 years, 61.53% females, 38.47% males). The participants aged between 57 and 63 years (inclusive), consisted of 43 people with a mean age of 60.19 (SD = 1.85 years, 62.80% females, 37.20% males). It is noted that, although the current method is asymmetrical, and obviously no substitute for a longitudinal study, the primary purpose of the analysis is to provide a more comprehensive indication about whether generational changes are ‘likely’ to occur within category normative data. Chi-Square Tests of Independence using a Fisher’s Exact Correction conducted between the current data set and the Battig and Montague (1969) group and McEvoy and Nelson (1982) group revealed that the majority of response patterns found in the original data had significantly changed over the last 40 years. Analyses of the Battig and Montague data set revealed that 31 of the total 31 (100%) of categories compared with the current norms produced significantly different and independent patterns of responses at an alpha level of 0.05. In the McEvoy and Nelson group, analyses revealed that 93 of the total 102 (91.18%) of categories produced significantly different or independent patterns of responses in comparison to the current data set. The current findings highlight the need for clinicians and researchers alike to be cautious with the use of norms unless the data have been standardised against the intended population, and as such, up-to-date category norms are imperative for researchers and clinicians in the field of memory research whether they are to be used for the construction of materials for tests, or further cognitive research.
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| 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 Sciences - Department of Psychology (Up to 30 Jun 2013) |
| Supervisors: | Liam Hendry |
| Qualification: | Bachelor of Science (Honours) |
| Date Deposited: | 16 Oct 2025 01:56 |
| Last Modified: | 16 Oct 2025 01:56 |
| 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/52431 |
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