scholarly journals Improving the Study of Social Representations through Word Associations: Validation of Semantic Contextualization

Field Methods ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 329-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Piermattéo ◽  
Jean-Louis Tavani ◽  
Grégory Lo Monaco
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Word Association ◽  
Social Representations ◽  
Word Associations ◽  
Lack Of Information ◽  
Different Levels

To grasp how individuals and groups perceive social objects of their environment, word association tasks enable the cognitions associated with a given object to be collected. However, the lack of information regarding the meaning of these responses implies interpretation and subjectivity in their analysis. To reduce this subjectivity, this research aims to validate semantic contextualization (SC), a procedure that allows participants to explain the link they establish between their response and the object under study. In an experimental study, we asked 94 undergraduate students to categorize the results of word association tasks, having available or not the responses resulting from the SC task. We observed that SC improved categorization at different levels such as perception of the difficulty of the task, agreement between participants, uncertainty, and homogeneity of the categorization. These results lead us to consider this method a useful addition to word association tasks.

scholarly journals Students’ Word Associations with Different Terms Related to the Wadden Sea: Does the Place of Residence (Coast or Inland) Have an Influence?

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 284
Author(s):  
Till Schmäing ◽  
Norbert Grotjohann
Keyword(s):  
Wadden Sea ◽  
Word Association ◽  
Place Of Residence ◽  
Word Associations ◽  
Quantitative Content ◽  
Visitation Frequency ◽  
Written Form ◽  
Free Word ◽  
Different Levels ◽  
Out Of School

This paper presents students’ word associations with terms regarding the Wadden Sea. A continuous free word-association method was used in which the students from secondary schools (n = 3119, average age: 13.54 years) reported their associations with the stimulus words Wadden Sea, mudflat hiking tour, and tides in written form. Data were collected from students living close to the Wadden Sea and from students living inland. We performed a quantitative content analysis including the corresponding formation of categories. In addition, students’ school, out-of-school with the class, and private experiences the Wadden Sea ecosystem were recorded. The study shows that not only subject-related concepts should be considered at different levels, but non-subject-related aspects as well. The associations of the inland and non-inland students are statistically significantly different. The Wadden Sea and its biome were found to be completely unknown to some students. Students’ school, out-of-school with the class, and private experiences of the wetlands are also very mixed, regarding their Wadden Sea visitation frequency, and surprisingly cannot be directly derived from their place of residence. This research makes an important contribution towards the design of future biology didactic studies on the Wadden Sea.

scholarly journals What do we talk about when we talk about participation? Sense of community and social representations of participation

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 312-328
Author(s):  
Alessia Rochira ◽  
Evelyn De Simone ◽  
Terri Mannarini ◽  
Sergio Salvatore
Keyword(s):  
Community Participation ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Sense Of Community ◽  
Word Association ◽  
Social Representations ◽  
Social Representation ◽  
Association Task ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Different Levels

The relationship between sense of community (SOC) and citizen participation has been extensively studied in community psychology. Connecting Social Representations and SOC theory, this study explored the lay meanings of citizen participation and its association with SOC. A word association task and a measure of territorial SOC were administered to 390 participants, and data analyzed to explore the contents of the social representations of citizen participation conveyed by the interviewees and their salience. Results revealed that different levels of SOC were associated with variations in the social representation of citizen participation. Specifically, among high-SOC participants the notion of formal political participation prevailed, while among low-SOC participants a more articulated vision emerged, encompassing social and community participation, and also conventional and non conventional types of participatory behaviors.

Numbers of Word Associations to Color Patches and Color Names Differ across Two Opponent Pairs

1983 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 233-234
Author(s):  
Greg Smith ◽  
H. D. Day
Keyword(s):  
Color Vision ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Word Association ◽  
Semantic Differential ◽  
Process Theory ◽  
Female Undergraduate ◽  
Word Associations ◽  
Opponent Process ◽  
Opponent Process Theory

68 female undergraduate students completed word-association and semantic-differential tasks in response to stimuli which were patches or names of eight colors. The number of word associations for the group viewing color patches differed from that of the group responding to color names on the basis of four colors forming two of the three opponent pairs of the opponent-process theory of color vision.

Embodying the culture of achievement: Culture between illness and perfection is a ‘thin line’ – obtaining the ideal female body as an act of achievement

2021 ◽  
pp. 1354067X2110040
Author(s):  
Josefine Dilling ◽  
Anders Petersen
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Human Body ◽  
Female Body ◽  
The Body ◽  
Thin Line ◽  
Complex Processes ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Different Levels ◽  
The Ideal ◽  
Body Ideals

In this article, we argue that certain behaviour connected to the attempt to attain contemporary female body ideals in Denmark can be understood as an act of achievement and, thus, as an embodiment of the culture of achievement, as it is characterised in Præstationssamfundet, written by the Danish sociologist Anders Petersen (2016) Hans Reitzels Forlag . Arguing from cultural psychological and sociological standpoints, this article examines how the human body functions as a mediational tool in different ways from which the individual communicates both moral and aesthetic sociocultural ideals and values. Complex processes of embodiment, we argue, can be described with different levels of internalisation, externalisation and materialisation, where the body functions as a central mediator. Analysing the findings from a qualitative experimental study on contemporary body ideals carried out by the Danish psychologists Josefine Dilling and Maja Trillingsgaard, this article seeks to anchor such theoretical claims in central empirical findings. The main conclusions from the study are used to structure the article and build arguments on how expectations and ideals expressed in an achievement society become embodied.

Do word associations assess word knowledge? A comparison of L1 and L2, child and adult word associations

2010 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marjolein Cremer ◽  
Daphne Dingshoff ◽  
Meike de Beer ◽  
Rob Schoonen
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Development ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Word Association ◽  
Word Knowledge ◽  
Word Associations ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Association Behavior ◽  
Log Linear ◽  
L1 And L2 ◽  
Free Word

Differences in word associations between monolingual and bilingual speakers of Dutch can reflect differences in how well seemingly familiar words are known. In this (exploratory) study mono-and bilingual, child and adult free word associations were compared. Responses of children and of monolingual speakers were found to be more dispersed across response categories than responses of adults and of L2 speakers, respectively. Log linear analyses show that the distributional patterns of association responses differ among the groups. Age has the largest effect on association responses. Adults give more meaning-related responses than children. Child L1 speakers give more meaning-related responses than child L2 speakers. Form-based and ‘Other’ associations were mostly given by (L2) children. The different findings for mono- and bilingual children and for mono- and bilingual adults show the influence of bilingualism on the development of word associations. The prominent effect of age emphasizes the role of conceptual development in word association behavior, and makes free word association tasks less suitable as an assessment tool for word knowledge.

An Exploratory Study of Word Associations of Negro College Students

1968 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leon H. Belcher ◽  
Joel T. Campbell
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Word Association ◽  
Scholastic Aptitude Test ◽  
Reading Difficulty ◽  
Aptitude Test ◽  
Word Associations ◽  
Scholastic Aptitude

Two word-association lists of 50 words were each administered to 50 Negro college students. 41 words were taken from the Kent-Rosanoff list, 29 from the Palermo-Jenkins list, and 30 were words used in analogy items of the Scholastic Aptitude Test. Comparisons with previous normative studies showed generally similar results. The present study did result in slightly smaller proportions of matching from class primary responses to noun, pronoun, and adverb stimulus words and of opposite responses to “opposite-evoking stimuli.” A number of the responses indicated reading difficulty or misunderstanding of the word.

RESEARCHING VOCABULARY THROUGH A WORD KNOWLEDGE FRAMEWORK

1997 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norbert Schmitt ◽  
Paul Meara
Keyword(s):  
Word Association ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Word Knowledge ◽  
Vocabulary Size ◽  
Word Associations ◽  
Knowledge Change ◽  
Japanese Students ◽  
Knowledge Framework ◽  
Percentage Points ◽  
Academic Year

This study examines how two types of word knowledge, word associations and grammatical suffix knowledge, change over time both receptively and productively. Ninety-five secondary and postsecondary Japanese students were tested on three word associations and inflectional and derivational suffixes for each of 20 verbs, once near the beginning of their academic year and once near the end. The results showed their average vocabulary gain was 330 words. The students showed rather poor knowledge of the allowable suffixes for the verbs, especially the derivative suffixes. Likewise, the subjects did not show very good mastery of the verbs' word associations. Even for verbs rated as known, the students as a group were able to produce only about 50% of the word associations possible on the test as judged by native speaker norms. Word association knowledge and suffix knowledge were shown to correlate with each other and with total vocabulary size. The subjects overall had from 19 to 25 percentage points more receptive knowledge than productive knowledge.

scholarly journals Motivation and Autonomy in Learning English as Foreign Language: A Case Study of Ecuadorian College Students

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge Cevallos Bravo ◽  
Eder A. Intriago ◽  
Jhonny Villafuerte Holguin ◽  
Gustavo Molina Garzon ◽  
Luis Ortega Arcia
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
English Language ◽  
English As Foreign Language ◽  
Learning Attitudes ◽  
Correct Pronunciation ◽  
Different Levels

This quantitative research aims to examine how different levels of motivation relate to frequency of occurrence of autonomous language learning activities undertaken by undergraduate students. Eight hundred and sixty-two college students from 10 vocational training programs of a public university located in Ecuador, South America, participated in this study. Spratt’s questionnaire that regards ‘autonomy and motivation’ as a cyclical interaction in the language learning process, was updated by the researchers, adding digital education elements. The data were analyzed using the program SPSS v24.0.0 The results showed that there was a significant relationship between: the language learning stimulation generated by professors and the participants’ learning attitudes. In addition, it was determined that the most frequent language practices in which the participants showed greatest autonomy were: listening to songs in English language, worrying about the correct pronunciation, and noting down interesting words or expressions in English.

Word Associations and Meaningfulness Values for Grade-School-Aged Children

1964 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 447-455 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sydelle Stone Shapiro
Keyword(s):  
Word Association ◽  
Rank Order ◽  
Group Analysis ◽  
The Other ◽  
Grade School ◽  
Word Associations ◽  
Significant Agreement ◽  
School Aged Children ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Group Sex

Multiple word associations to 65 words, 52 of which were CVCs, were obtained from 100 boys and 100 girls in Grades 4, 6, and 8, aged respectively, 9 and 10, 11 and 12, 13 and 14. Conventional word-association norms were developed for each of these grade-sex groups for first, second, and third responses, separately and pooled. Meaningfulness values for each word, defined as the mean number of associations, were also determined for each group. Analysis of the primaries disclosed that approximately half the set of words had primaries which were the same across all groups and that such primaries were on the average of much higher frequencies than primaries which differed among groups. Primaries which differed among groups very often occurred as secondaries or tertiaries of the other groups. Frequency of primaries did not vary between sexes or across grade-age levels. While m values for the set of words increased with grade and age, the rank ordering of these values was essentially the same within each grade-age-sex group. Sex was not related to m values. Values of m when compared with Noble's m′ showed significant agreement both for rank-order comparisons and values dichotomized into high and low categories.

scholarly journals Representaciones Sociales de los Mayores sobre los Progamas Sociales en la Ciudad de Buenos Aires

ILUMINURAS ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (49) ◽  
Author(s):  
María Julieta Oddone ◽  
Lilia Chernobilsky
Keyword(s):  
Buenos Aires ◽  
Word Association ◽  
Multiple Correspondence Analysis ◽  
Social Representations ◽  
Need Satisfaction ◽  
Survival Strategies ◽  
Social Programs ◽  
Redes Sociales ◽  
Negative Images ◽  
Constituent Elements

Se analizan las representaciones sociales que tienen las personas mayores con respecto a los planes sociales. Se basa en una investigación realizada en la Ciudad de Buenos Aires con abordaje de métodos mixtos, para obtener profundidad y representatividad en el uso, la imagen, las estrategias de supervivencia y el papel de las redes sociales entre los adultos mayores en relación con los programas sociales.Las representaciones sociales funcionan y organizan a través de la interacción social, lo que les otorga un carácter dinámico basado en la coexistencia, tensión y predominio temporario entre los diversos elementos constitutivos del campo representacional y se moldean al ser producidas en grupos determinados.Para obtener la representación social de los encuestados se utilizó la técnica de asociación de palabras y el análisis de correspondencias múltiples.  Las imágenes y opiniones positivas o negativas se asocian con el nivel educativo. Influyen: el conocimiento, uso  y grado de satisfacción de necesidades. AbstractThis article examines social representations of seniors in relation to elderly-specific programs. It is based on a research conducted in Buenos Aires City using a mixed-methods approach, with the purpose of obtaining depth and representativeness upon our findings on the use and image of social programs among old people, as well as on their survival strategies and the role of social media.Social representations work and are configured through social interaction, giving them a dynamic nature based on the coexistence, tension and temporary prevalence among the multiple constituent elements of the representational field. Also, social representations are shaped while being produced within particular groups.In order to capture social representations of respondents, word association technique and multiple correspondence analysis were used. Positive and negative images and opinions about social programs were linked to educational level. Moreover, they were influenced by both the knowledge and usage of social programs among respondents, and their need-satisfaction level.

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