Arq Neu ro p siq u iat r 2003;61(4):916-919
BRAZILIAN STANDARDISED NORM S FOR A SET
OF PICTURES ARE COM PARABLE WITH THOSE
OBTAINED INTERNATIONALLY
Sabine Pompéia
1, M ônica Carolina M iranda
1, Orlando Francisco Amodeo Bueno
1ABSTRACT - Snod g rass & Vand erw art(1980)stand ard ized a set of 260 p ictures in the USA for use in stud ies of cog nitive p rocesses that em p loy p ictured ob jects as lab oratory analog ues of ob ject them selves. Since then sim ilar norm s for this set were ob tained in Britain, Sp ain, Jap an and Iceland and a larg er set of 400 p ictures (includ ing the original 260: Cycowicz et al., 1997) was stud ied in France and Brazil. The p resent article p rovid es a com p arison of the norm s ob tained in Brazil and internationally. The p attern of correlations am ong the Brazilian and other standardizations were equivalent to that previously observed: despite pictures being judged to be of sim ilar fam iliarity and visual com plexity (high positive correlations), nam e agreem ent was less correlated, p ossib ly d ue to d ifferences in the lang uag es sp oken in each country and /or in the sam p le size used in each stud y. Results confirm the ad eq uacy of the Brazilian norm s.
KEY WORDS: p icture, nam ing , fam iliarity, visual com p lexity, norm s, stand ard ization.
A padronização brasileira para um conjunto de figuras é comparável à obtida internacionalmente
RESUMO - Snod g rass & Vand erw art(1980)p ad ronizaram um conjunto d e 260 fig uras nos EUA p ara uso em p esq uisas d e p rocessos cog nitivos nas q uais fig uras d e ob jetos são utilizad as com o análog os lab oratoriais d e ob jetos p rop riam ente d itos. Desd e então norm as sim ilares foram ob tid as no Reino Unid o, Esp anha, Jap ão e Islând ia, e um conjunto d e 400 fig uras (incluind o as 260 orig inais: Cycow icz et al., 1997) foi estud ad o na França e no Brasil. O p resente estud o traz um a com p aração d as norm as ob tid as no Brasil e internacionalm ente. O p ad rão d e correlações entre as p ad ronizações b rasileira e as d em ais foi eq uip arável ao p reviam ente d escrito: ap esar d as fig uras serem julg ad as com o tend o fam iliarid ad e e com p lexid ad e visual sim ilares (correlações p ositivas elevad as), a consistência d e nom eação foi m enos correlacionad a, p ossivelm ente d evid o a d iferenças nos id iom as d e cad a p ais p esq uisad o e/ou d evid o ao tam anho d a am ostra em p reg ad a em cad a estud o. Os resultad os confirm aram a ad eq uação d as norm as b rasileiras.
PALAVRAS-CHAVE: fig ura, nom eação, fam iliarid ad e, com p lexid ad e visual, norm as, p ad ronização.
Dep art am en t o d e Psico b io lo g ia d a Un iversid ad e Fed eral d e São Pau lo (UNIFESP), São Pau lo SP, Brasil: 1Grad u at e St u d en t . 1Pro fesso r. St u d y su p p o rt ed b y AFIP an d FAPESP (g ran t 1998/15397-1).
Received 1 Ap ril 2003. Accep t ed 21 Ju n e 2003.
Dr. Orlando F.A. Bueno - Depart ament o de Psicobiologia-UNIFESP - Rua Bot ucat u 826/1° andar - 04023-062 São Paulo SP - Brasil. FAX: 55 11 5572-5092. E-mail: [email protected]
Investig ations into the com p lex cog nitive p roces-ses in vo lved in n am in g o b ject s1,2 req u ire t h at st u d ies b e co n d u cted u n d er carefu lly co n tro lled co n d itio n s. Th ese o ft en in clu d e p ict u red o b ject s as lab o rat o ry an alo g u es o f o b ject th em selves. Ho w ever, n o n o r-m at ive d at a fo r su ch st ir-m u li w as availab le u n t il t h e end of the 1970s, p reclud ing ad eq uate com p arisons b et w een st u d ies b ecau se t h ey em p lo yed d ifferen t sets of d raw ing s. A turning p oint in this line of stud y w as th e p u b licatio n o f Sn o d g rass & Van d erw art’s3 st an d ard isat io n o f 260 p ict u res o f co m m o n o b ject s d raw n in b lack o ver a w h ite b ackg ro u n d . Th ese sti-m uli were drawn so as to follow pre-detersti-m ined rules that p erm it evaluation of consistency b etween them ,
a-Arq Neu ro p siq u iat r 2003;61(4) 917
m in g lat en cy, t ach ist o sco p ic reco g n it io n t h resh o ld an d m em o rab ilit y6. Sin ce t h e p io n eerin g p ap er o f Sn o d g rass & Van d erw art3 in th e USA, sim ilar w o rk h a s b e e n co n d u ct e d o n t h e 2 6 0 p ict u re -se t fo r British7, Spanish8, Japanese9 and Icelandic10 university stud ents. A larg er set of 400 p ictures, which includ es t h e o rig in al 260, h as b een st u d ied m o re recen t ly fo r b o th Fren ch m en6 an d Brazilian s11. Th e n u m b er o f su b ject s an d o f p ict u res u sed in each n o rm at ive p a-p er can b e fo u n d in Tab le 1.
Correlations b etween variab les in each of the nor-m at ive st u d ies w ere co n d u ct ed in o rd er t o d et ernor-m i-ne how they related to each other (Table 3). Measures o f n am e ag reem en t w ere h ig h ly n eg at ively co rrelat ed , rarrelat in g s o f fam iliarirrelat y an d co m p lexirrelat y w ere m o -d est ly co rrelat e-d , an -d t h e rem ain in g co m p ariso n s b et w een m easu res yield ed sm all o r n o n -sig n ifican t effect s. Th e larg est co rrelat io n s fo u n d o ccu rred in t h e Brazilian st u d y, p ro b ab ly b ecau se it u sed t h e
lar-g er sam p le (Tab le 1) an d h ad every su b ject s rat e n a-m ing , faa-m iliarity and visual coa-m p lexity of all 400 p ic-tures, thus lowering variance,, which increases corre-lations. Nevertheless, the p attern of correlations b et-weenam ong m easures reported for different cultures is e q u iva le n t , su p p o rt in g t h e id e a t h a t n a m in g , fam iliarit y an d co m p lexit y are essen t ially in d ep en -d en t an -d m ay b e assu m e-d t o affect -d ifferen t st ag es d u rin g p ictu re p ro cessin g5.
Correlations b etw een norm s of d ifferent cultures w ere a lso co n d u ct ed in so m e o f t h e a b o vem en -tioned papers (Table 2) in order to determ ine whether rat in g s fro m d ifferen t co u n t ries w ere co m p arab le. Th is co m p ariso n can b e carried o u t b ecau se th e p ro -ced u re em p lo yed in all st u d ies w as essen t ially t h e sam e: su b jects w ere all yo u n g u n iversity stu d en ts th at w ere n ative sp eakers o f th e p articu lar lan g u ag e und er investig ation; w ere tested in g roup s (excep t12, in w h ich in d ivid u als w ere t est ed alo n e); w ere in
s-Table 1. Pict ure assessed and sample size in each st udy t hat obt ained normat ive dat a.
USA3 Jap an9 UK7 Sp ain8 Fran ce6 Iceland10 Brazil11
No. Pict u res 260 260 260 254 393 257 400
assessed
Pict u res n o t - - - 45, 213, 239, 19, 95, 96, 283, 95, 96, 177
in clu d ed& 244, 253, 260 288, 327, 373
42 (n am in g ) 67 (n am in g ) 62 (n am in g ) 28 (n am in g ) 26 (n am in g ) 150 Sam p le size 40 (fam .) 71 (fam .) 26 (all tasks) 51 (fam .) 30 (fam .) 25 (fam .) (all tasks)
40 (co m p l.) 70 (co m p l.) 59 (co m p l.) 29 (co m p l.)
No t e: n u m b ers n ext t o co u n t ries= referen ces; &= n u m b ered acco rd in g t o t h e o rig in al set ; fam .= m ean rat in g o f fam iliarit y w it h co n cep t s; co m p l.= m ean rat in g o f co m p lexit y o f d raw in g s.
Table 2. Significant (ps< 0.01) correlat ions cit ed in t he lit erat ure among measures obt ained in different cult ures.
(Jap an vs. USA)9 (Fran ce vs. USA)6 (Fran ce vs. Sp ain )6 (Sp ain vs. USA)8 (Sp ain vs. Jap an )8
H 0.333 0.428 0.313 0.268 0.258
% 0.272 0.429 0.506 0.427 0.185
Fam . 0.711 0.913 0.778 0.739 0.858
Co m p l. 0.938 0.954 0.727 0.745 0.941
No t e: see n o t e o f Tab le 1; H= n am e in fo rm at io n st at ist ics; %= p ercen t ag e o f n am e ag reem en t ; n o s. n ext t o co u n t ries= referen ces.
Table 3. Significant (ps< 0.01) correlat ions among measures obt ained in each of t he norms cit ed in t he lit erat ure.
USA3 Jap an9 UK7 Sp ain8 Fran ce6 Iceland10 Brazil11
% - -0.928 - -0.740 -0.952 - -0.967
H vs. Fam . n s# -0.196 n s n s -0.183 n s# -0.474
Co m p l. n s# n s - ns ns - 0.269
% vs. Fam . n s# 0.335 - n s 0.215 n s# 0.558
Co m p l. n s# n s - ns ns - -0.312
Fam . vs. Co m p l. -0.466 -0.350 -0.460 -0.459 -0.391 - -0.643
918 Arq Neu ro p siq u iat r 2003;61(4)
tru cted to n am e th e o b jects d ep icted o n slid es o r o n t h e co m p u t er screen , as w ell as t o ju d g e t h eir fam i-liarity w ith th e co n cep t an d visu al co m p lexity o f th e drawings using 5 point scales (1 represented the least fam iliar an d co m p lex). Resu lt s sh o w ed larg e sig n ifican t p o sit ive co rrelat io n s fo r fam iliarit y an d co m -plexity ratings (Table 2). This probably occurs because su ch m easu res relat e t o ju d g em en t s ab o u t t h e p ic-t u res o r o b jecic-t s ic-t h em selves, w h ich are sim ilar irres-p ective o f th e lan g u ag e sirres-p o ken b y th e irres-p erso n w h o ra t es t h em8. Sm a ller co rrela t io n s o ccu r fo r n a m e ag reem en t, w h ich is n o t su rp risin g co n sid erin g th at th e w o rd o r w o rd s u sed to n am e each o b ject varies acro ss t o n g u es8. Hen ce, t h e sim ilar p at t ern o f co rre-lations am ong nam ing, fam iliarity with concep ts and com p lexity of d rawings in each norm ative stud y, and b et w een t h ese m easu res in d ifferen t cu lt u res, co n -firm t h e u sefu ln ess o f t h e 2603 an d 4005 p ict u re-set s as t o o ls fo r in t ern at io n al co g n it ive research .
The objective of the present study was to determ i-ne the adequacy of the Brazilian norm ative data thro-u g h th e co m p ariso n (co rrelatio n s) o f resthro-u lts o n n am e ag reeam en t , faam iliarit y an d co am p lexit y w it h t h o -se o f o th er cu ltu ral g ro u p s.
M ETHOD
Com parisons between the Brazilian11, North-Am erican3, French6, British7, Sp anish8, Jap anese9 and Iceland ic10 norm s w ere co n d u ct ed co n sid erin g t h e fo llo w in g m easu res fo r each p ict u re:
a. Nam e ag reem ent: refers to the d eg ree to w hich sub -jects ag ree on the nam e of the p icture. Two m easures were u sed : t h e p ercen t ag e o f su b ject s w h o u sed t h e m o d al n a-m e an d t h e H in d ex, calcu lat ed in t h e fo llo w in g a-m an n er:
This H ind ex takes into account the num b er of sub jects t h at g ives each o n e o f t h e d ifferen t n am es u sed fo r t h e sam e p ict u re3,5; k refers t o t h e n u m b er o f d ifferen t n am es g iven t o each p ict u re, an d t h e Pi is t h e p ro p o rt io n o f su b
-ject s w h o g ave each n am e. Th e g reat er t h e n am in g ag re-em en t b et w een su b ject s, t h e clo ser t h e H is t o 0.
b . Fam iliarit y: refers t o t h e fam iliarit y o f t h e co n cep t d ep ict ed . Sco res ran g ed fro m 1 t o 5 (1= very u n fam iliar, 2= u n fam iliar, 3= m ed iu m , 4= fam iliar, 5= very fam iliar).
c. Visu al co m p lexit y: refers t o t h e am o u n t o f lin es an d d et ails in t h e d raw in g . Sco res ran g ed fro m 1 t o 5 (1= least co m p lex; 5= m o st co m p lex).
So m e o f t h e n o rm at ive st u d ies also evalu at ed o t h er m easures for the sets of p ictures such as ag e of acq uisition (t h ro u g h ad u lt est im at es o f w o rd learn in g ag e, a m et h o d t h at is n o lo n g er co n sid ered a g o o d p red ict o r o f t h is va-riab le10,12), im ag eab ilit y, im ag e ag reem en t , an d n am in g lat en cy. Th ese variab les w ere n o t est ab lish ed in t h e Brazi-lian n o rm s an d w ill t h erefo re n o t b e d iscu ssed h ere.
Statistical analysis involved pictures as units of m easure. Th u s, co m p ariso n s w ere co n d u ct ed co n sid erin g t h e p ic-t u res fo r w h ich d aic-t a w ere availab le in b o ic-t h ic-t h e Brazilian an d o t h er n o rm s (see Tab le 1 fo r in fo rm at io n o n t h e n u m -b er o f p ict u res st u d ied in each cu lt u re). Mo st m easu res d id n o t sh o w n o rm al d ist rib u t io n o r h o m o ced ast icit y, so co m p a riso n s w ere co n d u ct ed t h ro u g h n o n p a ra m et ric Sp e a rm a n rh o co rre la t io n s. Th e le ve l o f sig n ifica n ce ad o p t ed w as 0.01 b ecau se o f t h e larg e n u m b er o f co m -p ariso n s co n d u ct ed .
RESULTS
Tab le 4 lists the correlations b etween the Brazilian d ata and that of the other countries for which norm s w ere o b tain ed .
DISCUSSION
Correlations of the Brazilian norm ative data with that of other cultures showed that despite pictures being judged to be of sim ilar fam iliarity and visual com plexity (high positive correlations), nam e agree-m ent was less correlated, as previously observed6,8,9.
Hig h co rrelat io n s b et w een fam iliarit y an d co m -p lexit y rat in g s -p ro b ab ly o ccu rs b ecau se su ch m easu res relate to ju d g em en ts ab o u t th e p ictu res o r o b -jects them selves, which are sim ilar irresp ective of the lan g u ag e sp o ken b y th e p erso n w h o rates th em8.
Table 4. Significant (ps< 0.01) Spearman’s rho correlat ions among measures obt ained in Brazil and ot her cult ures (n= number of pict ures compared).
USA3 Jap an9 UK7 Sp ain8 Fran ce6 Iceland10
(n = 260) (n = 260) (n = 260) (n = 254) (n = 393) (n = 257)
H 0.458 0.281 - 0.581 0.429 0.436
% 0.467 0.306 0.297 0.598 0.458 0.423
Fam . 0.824 0.773 0.824 0.722 0.868 0.861
Co m p l. 0.837 0.815 - 0.708 0.777
Arq Neu ro p siq u iat r 2003;61(4) 919
In t erm s o f n a m in g , t h e sm a llest co rrela t io n s ob tained w ere b etw een the Brazilians and Jap anese, co n firm in g lo w a g reem en t b et w een n o rm s fro m Jap an an d th e USA9. Th erefo re, sim ilarit y in t h e lan -guages sp oken seem s to influence correlations in nm ing b ecause they were higher when conm p aring d a-t a fro m a-t h e Brazilian , Po ra-t u g u ese sp eakin g sam p le, w it h t h at o f Sp an iard s8 an d Fren ch m en6 (b o t h o f w h ich u se Latin ro o ted lan g u ag es), th an w h en co m -p arin g Brazilian w it h Ja-p an ese9, British7, an d Icelan -d ic10 n o rm s. Ho w ever, co rrelatio n s b etw een n am in g by the British7 and Brazilian sam ples were surprisingly low, very sim ilar to that of Brazil and Jap an, although t h e lan g u ag e sp o ken is t h e sam e as in No rt h -Am e-rica3, w h ich h ad n am in g rat in g s t h at w ere very sim i-lar t o t h o se o b t ain ed in Brazil. Hen ce, d ifferen ces in nam ing seem to follow som e other characteristic that not only the language sp oken in the country in which n o rm s are o b tain ed . We su g g est th at co rrelatio n s of nam ing m easures are also d eterm ined b y the sam -p le size, w h ich w as sm all in t h e Brit ish an d Icelan d ic st u d ies (Tab le 1). Differen ces in n am in g m ay b e o ver o r u n d errep resen t ed if few su b ject s are u sed , in cre-asing variab ility which inevitab ly lowers correlations. Differently, fam iliarity and com p lexity norm s d id not seem t o b e in an y w ay relat ed t o t h e sam p le size u sed . Th is is n o t su rp risin g sin ce rat in g s o f t h ese m easu res vary o n ly b et w een 1 an d 5, w h ile it is im -p o ssib le t o d et erm in e h o w m an y d ifferen t n am es w ill b e at t rib u t ed t o a p ict u re.
Th e p attern o f co rrelatio n s b etw een th e Brazilian and international stand ard izations thus confirm s the ad eq u acy o f t h e Brazilian n o rm s an d t h at d at a fro m this country using these p ictures can b e d irectly com -p ared t o t h at o b t ain ed ab ro ad . Nevert h eless, a-p art fro m cu lt u ral d ifferen ces, t h e n am es at t rib u t ed t o p ict u res m ay also d iffer am o n g su b ject s w h o sp eak th e sam e n ative lan g u ag e b u t w h o in h ab it d istin ct reg io n s o r co u n t ries, are fro m d ifferen t so cial an d e d u ca t io n a l b a ckg ro u n d , a n d o f d iffe re n t a g e s.
Norm s for child ren were ob tained only for the North-Am ericans5,13 and Brazilians11; inform ation on p icture ratings b y other age group s are lacking. Also, gend er d ifferen ces in p ict u re at t rib u t es h ave seld o m b een studied and were not determ ined in any of the norm s cit ed h ere, so t h ey m ay also lead t o d ist in ct effect s. Hen ce, p ilo t stu d ies w ith th e sp ecific p o p u latio n to b e in vestig ated sh o u ld alw ays b e co n d u cted so as t o d et erm in e t h e ad eq u acy o f t h e n o rm s em p lo yed .
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