The verbatim definitions of the words contained in the Stanford-Binet (Form L-M) vocabulary subtest from subjects ranging in age from six years to advanced old age were subjected to qualitative analysis. The findings were that synonyms increased in frequency through childhood and were the predominant form of response throughout adulthood, that use and description forms were rare but were somewhat more common in the youngest subjects, that explanations were slightly more frequent in the adult years, that demonstration and illustration forms were rare and indicated no age trend, and that errors decreased through the childhood and adolescent years. These findings are discussed in terms of the value of such qualitative analyses and in consideration of the distinction between ontogenetic and cohort changes. 1 The authors wish to acknowledge the assistance of Erwin S. Huston and Norman C. Storck in making available the subject sample. Appreciation is also extended to Elva Herbst, Lynn Matthews, and Nancy Pecheriza for their considerable help in public relations in this project, to Lydia B. Storck and Lawrence Hubert for their assistance in the data analysis, and to the 180 persons who made themselves available for our work.2 Requests for reprints should be sent to Patricia
The 37 Caldecott Medal award-winning children's books and 129 runnerup books were subjected to a content analysis in order to evaluate the portrayal of adults in children's literature, both fictional and nonfictional. Of the total 166 books analyzed, 43 were excluded from the data because they contained no adult portrayals. For the 123 books subjected to final content analysis, and the 751 characters contained in these books, the data revealed statistically significant differences on four variables: (1) more male than female adults were represented; (2) more healthy than physically handicapped adults were portrayed; (3) more positive than negative or neutral illustrations of adults occurred; (4) adults were represented more in fictional than in nonfictional children's books. Results were interpreted as demonstrating that children's literature portrays neither adult figures nor adult life in a realistic manner.
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