THE DEVELOPMENT OF TAXONOMIC STRUCTURE IN LEXICAL MEMORY

Is there a shift from schematic to taxonomic organization in lexical memory from the preschool to the adult years (e.g., Nelson, 1982)? In two cued recall studies, subjects in five different cue conditions were presented with the same tobe-remembered (TBR) items. In different conditions, cures were related to the TBR items either schematically (zoo-elephant) or taxonomically. Three kinds of taxonomic cues were used: superordinate (animal-elephant), slot-filler (monkey-elephant), and coordinate (cat-elephant). Cues and TBR items were selected for their salience, familiarity, and meaningfulness to subjects on the basis of extensive pilot interviews with peers. Schematic and superordinate cues were most effective in aiding recall, and coordinate cues were least effective, for both preschoolers and kindergartners in Experiment 1, and for both preschoolers and college students in Experiment 2. Thus, the relative strength of different kinds of relationships, as reflected in cued recall performance, does not appear to change with age. The findings are consistent with the view that lexical memory is both schematically and taxonomically organized from early childhood. © 1991.