An experimental test of 40 items given to 257 3rd-, 6th-, and 9th-grade pupils revealed a definite decrease in choice of concrete definitions and increase in functional and abstract choices at each higher level, and especially between the 3rd and 6th grades. Significant differences were obtained between all categories except functional choices in the 6th and 9th grades. When children were classified according to their dominant response on the vocabulary test (at least 40% of the choices in that area) it was found that there was a significant difference between the mixed and both the functional and abstract groups at the 1% level of confidence.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.