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UNIVERSITYOF CALIFORNIA
SAN DIEGOi t m >1"\0~ »>:., V:;.· ,j
Lexical Cr~~~~c:tion, Semantic Me~ory, and Reading Comprehension
A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the
requirements for the degree rector of Pnilosophy in
Psychology
by
Billy E. Vaughn-:
Committee in charge:
Professor Michael Cole, O'lairProfessor Jean Mandler, Co-ChairProfessor David RumelhartProfessor Hugh MehanProfessor Roy D'Andrade
1986
The dissertation of Billy E. Vaughn is approved,and it is acceptable in quality and form for
.publication on microfilm:
V-1 Co-chair:r:€rson
UuduL L7 Chairperson
University of California, San Diego
1986
iii
ToAunt Barbara,
who just might be the WIZARD.
iv
TABLEOF CO~~ENTS
list of FiguresPage
vii
list of Tables viii
Acknowl edgener. ts ix
Vita .............................................................. xi
FUblicatior xi
Fields of Stu:::ly xi
Abstr act xii
Chapter I
A Rich ar:d QJick Theory of Lexical Og ar i zat.Lon ar.d Access
Semartic Memory, Lexical Crg ar i zat ion , ard Readir:g
Compreher sror 6
Computer s ir: Educatior: 20
Chapter II 26A Study of Lexical Crg ar.i zat.Iot- ar d Readirg
Compr ehen si.or 26
Method 31
Subjects 31
Appar atus ard !v:ater ials 31
Desigr. 40
Procedur es .................................................... 41
Resul ts ......................................................... 45
Pr etest Anal yse s 46
v
Trials to Criter ior .
Posttest results usirg Pretest scores as Covariates .
Posttest ccmpar isors usirg the Trials to Criter Ion
covar iates .
Free Reeall .
Di scuasi on .
Chapter III ~ .
Conclusion .
Refer er ces .
Apper:dix
Rescue Micro'MJrld Courseware .
Per forrnar.ce Record s ard Eval uatior of MJdel .
5261
61
6369
73
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76
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Table
1
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5.
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7
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LIST CF TABLES
The Instruction by Semantic List Type factorsin the design .
Taxonomic List Stimuli .........•............
Mixed List Stimuli .•.•'...•..•.••••.•.•......
Thematic List Stimuli .... ;•.•.......•.......
Page
2935
36
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Pretest and Post test Raw Percent Correct onthe Spellirig~est ....•...•.•.•..•..•........ 47
Pretest and Posttest ,Raw Percent Correct onthe Vocabulary Discrimination Test ..••..•...
Pretest and Posttest Raw Percent Correct onthe Vocabulary Definition Test ............•.
Pretest and Post test Raw Percent Correct onthe Open~ended Test for Appropriate WordResponses .
Trials to criterion as a function ofinstruction and list type ...••...•...•......
Adjusted Percent Correct Scores on theSpelling Test .
Adjusted Percent Correct Scores on theVocabulary Discrimination Test .
Adjusted Percent Correct Scores on theDefini tion Test e' •••••••••••••••••••• e· •••••••
Recall and clustering performance as afunction of insruction and list type .
Average number of categories recalled andaverage number of items recalled forInstructional Group as a funrition of Speed ofInstruction and Semantic List Type .
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ACKNCWLEI:GEMENTS
The combination of the department of psychology and the
Laboratory of Comparative I-lumanCognition created a remarkable
environment for me to develop my expertise in Cognitive Psychology. I
ow= a tremendous amount to Mike Cole and Peg Griffin for the
construction of a zone of proximal developnent that al Ioved me to study
mainstream psychology without completely losing my soul. Jean Mandler's
patience and dedication will never be forgotten. A special thanks t 0
IUd tvi2han for his friendship and dependability. Edvun Hutchins and Roy
D'Andrade both helped me discover cognitive Anthropology. As an
undergraduate at this university, my first exposure to cognitive
psychology was in a course taught by by Iav id Rumelhart. I worked with
him closely in a year long course in artificial intelligence during
graduate school. He will never know how much he influenced the direction
of my thinking.
There have been many others, mentioned in order in which they
entered my life; each have contributed to the social accomplishment of
this task. Alfred Galloway, Norma Johnson, the Gardons, tvlrs. Barbara
Iugger Anderson (God rest her soul), the Peyers, David Floyd, fvlaggie
Elliot, Elliot Weinstein, Lonnie Anderson, Linda Amerman (God rest her
soul), Laura fv1.artin, Ken Traupn ann , ::helley Stokes, Judy 3nith, Katie
King, Mary tvtGinnis, S1eila Broyles, Lerman Penson, f-A,argaret Armstrong,
Charles Cooper, Jim 1tiertsch, Eileen Conway, and Nark Wallen.
- .
A special thanks to v,tyatt Casey, who taught me apple
microcomputer graphics and other pascal programming tricks. The
students w110vor-ked with me on this project included Deni se Stevens,
Juri Yoshida, Ellen Schi l l.er , Peter Kurata, Tom Cougher , Ha Tran, and
Cedric Lewis.
Thanks to Ir , John Griffith of the San Diego In i f't ed School.
District, who permitted me to enter the classrooms at Kennedy and Knox
el enerrtar y schools. The people at Knox were extremely helpful and
understanding. The children in both schools were very patient and
diligent subjects. tvlt. Erie Bapt i st church is thanked for its
receptiveness. Without the use of their facilities during school
holiday and vacation periods, I might still be collecting data.
lastly, I would like to extend my appreciation to my family. My
wife Liz is the most sensitive and understanding per son I have come to
know and love dearly. Per patience and admiration will be treasured
forever. My daughter Lindsay has endured a great deal during my
struggle to complete my dissertation. It is obvious that she is a strong
person. I love her dearly. Iav id Vaughn is much too young to understand
vklat his father has vor-ked so hard to accomplish for his sake.
VITA
March 2, 1951 -- Born -- Houston, Texas
1978 -
1980 -
1982 -1986 -
Bachelor of Arts, Social PsychologyLhiversity of California, San DiegoMasters of Arts, Clinical PsychologyCalifornia State Chiversity, Long BeachMasters of Arts, Cognitive Psychology
Doctor of Philosophy, Cognitive PsychologyLhiversity of California, San Diego
PUBLICATIONS
Vaughn, B. E. ( 1985). Computer NetlMJrks and Education.The Quarterly Newsletter of the Laboratory of Comparative~uman Cognition, 7(4), p .-13r -
Vaughn, B. R. (in collaboration with the Laboratory of ComparativeHuman Cognition) (in press). Cross-cul tural Psychology andEdu~ation. American Psychologist.
F IELrs CF STUDY
Major Fields: Cognitive Psychology, Cognitive Sociology and Computer~ience
ABSTRACTOF THEDISSERTATION
Lexical C1"ganization, Semantic Vemory, and Reading Comprehension
by
Billy E. Vaughn
Doctor of Fhilosophy in Psychology
lliiversityof California, San Diego, 1986
Professor t-lichael Cole, Chair
Professor Jean Mandler, Co-Chair
A microcomputer task was designed on the basis of a theory of
how lexical items can be related and how these lexical organizing
factors facilitate semantic memory, vocabulary instruction, and reading
comprehension. The task was employed in a study that ex anined three
issues: (1) the utility of the microcomputer lexical decision task for
pre-reading instruction, (2) the benefits of presenting the task under
speeded constraints, and (3) the differential effects of varying
semantic structure on lexical organization and reading comprehension.
Twovocabulary treatments, chosen to contrast varying anounts of speeded
instructional constraints, and a control condition were used with fourth
graders who were reading at grade level or below. Speed of instruction
was studied in interaction with three types of semantic 'MJrd list
structures (taxonomic, thematic, and a mix of the two). The training
produced significantly higher scores on two vocabulary tests and one of
t'MJ reading comprehension measures, indicating that the instruction had
a significant effect on both comprehension and vocabulary learning.
AIthough the literature suggests that recall of thematic lists is
greater than for taxonomic lists, no differences were found in the
present study. In addition, semantic list differences did not
differentially affect performance on the various tests of vocabulary
knowledge and reading comprehension.