Codability of Polygon Patterns

Abstract

39 Ss were presented with a code containing 13 categories, e.g., Area, Associations, and instructed to provide 5 descriptive statements for each of 20 polygons. Statements were ranked in order of importance. Ss showed greater agreement in category choice for the description of some polygons, and such agreement as was present decreased as the importance of the statement in question decreased ( p < .05). When descriptions produced by the first group of Ss were given to a second group ( n = 17), systematic differences in identification of polygons from the statements alone became obvious. Polygons associated with greater agreement in category choice for the most important statement were also those identified more accurately by the second group ( p < .05). Further relationships of category usage to physical measures of polygons, e.g., size, are also discussed.