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Portuguese category norms for children
Paula Carneiro1, Pedro Albuquerque, Angel Fernandez
1Departmento de Psicologia, Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias, Lisbon, Portugal. mpcarneiro@usal.es
Behavior Research Methods
|April 17, 2008
Summary
This study provides Portuguese category norms for children aged 3-12 years. These norms detail how children of different ages generate exemplars for various categories, aiding cognitive development research.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
- Linguistics
Background:
- Understanding semantic networks and category structures is crucial for cognitive development.
- Existing category norms are often limited in scope or age representation.
- Portuguese language norms for child development are particularly underrepresented in scientific literature.
Purpose of the Study:
- To establish comprehensive Portuguese category norms for three distinct child age groups.
- To analyze developmental changes in exemplar generation across childhood.
- To provide a valuable resource for researchers studying semantic memory and cognitive development in Portuguese-speaking children.
Main Methods:
- Conducted an exemplar-generation task with 300 Portuguese children (3-4, 7-8, 11-12 years old).
- Collected and analyzed responses for frequency of production, commonality, and diversity indexes.
- Compared child-generated norms with existing Portuguese adult norms.
Main Results:
- Norms were generated for 13 (preschoolers), 17 (second graders), and 21 (preadolescents) categories.
- Detailed data on response counts, exemplar production, and response appropriateness were compiled.
- Developmental trends in category knowledge and exemplar diversity were observed across age groups.
Conclusions:
- The study successfully generated Portuguese category norms for children across key developmental stages.
- These norms offer insights into the evolving structure of semantic memory during childhood.
- The findings provide a foundational dataset for future research in child language acquisition and cognitive development.
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