Return to search

Oral and Written Symbol Comprehension Testing: The Benefit of Cognitive Interview Probing

Traditionally, symbol comprehension is tested using open-ended, written responses. However, responses are often so brief that they may fail to indicate a participant?s true understanding of some symbols. In the present study, several test methods were compared to the standard written method to determine if they produce better symbol comprehension performance. The four alternative methods included: written test with probe questioning after all responses were provided, oral test without probe questioning, oral test with probe questioning after responses for all symbols were provided, and oral test with probe questioning after each partially correct or incorrect response. The probe or follow-up questioning technique is taken from the cognitive interview procedure used in eyewitness identification research to elicit more detailed responses. Participants reported their interpretations of 31 safety symbols in one of the five test method conditions. Results showed that the test methods that included follow-up questioning elicited more information from participants, and increased comprehension rates in both oral and written test formats. The results have implications for cost-effective symbol design and evaluation

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:NCSU/oai:NCSU:etd-10212005-101601
Date29 November 2005
CreatorsBrantley, Kimberly Anne
ContributorsMichael S. Wogalter
PublisherNCSU
Source SetsNorth Carolina State University
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext
Formatapplication/pdf
Sourcehttp://www.lib.ncsu.edu/theses/available/etd-10212005-101601/
Rightsunrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to NC State University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report.

Page generated in 0.0013 seconds