The Allocation of Descriptor Terms by Individuals in a Simulated Retrieval System

Abstract

These experiments simulated the performance of people using a suggested retrieval system for personal notes and files. Four groups of subjects were observed each classifying 100 potential Christmas presents as they thought appropriate. Three groups totalling 24 subjects invented their own classificatory terms; not one person used mutually exclusive categories and their classifications could not therefore have been simply filed without some index or artificial aid. Retrieval of objects was very substantially better using one's own descriptor terms as opposed to a classification performed by another person. The fourth group of 10 subjects classified objects using a vocabulary supplied by the experimenter; they assigned many more terms to each object. There are tentative indications that some individuals differ from others in the structure of the classifications they construct

These results suggest that it is helpful to allow people to classify materials for their own use, that they would benefit from a suggested artificial retrieval device making this possible, and that no great practical problem would arise from the number of terms they would use.