Sorting food labels and describing properties of categories: stability of results between and within subjects

The purpose of this research is to improve understanding of the consistency of the categorization process in cognitive psychology. To investigate the temporal stability of the categorization process between and within subjects, 100 participants (M = 22.1 yr., SD = 2.1) were required to sort 65 food labels into groups and to explain their grouping. The sorting and property generation of food labels were compared by conducting two sessions (with a 15-day interval) to assess within-subject variability. Two groups of participants were compared to assess between-subjects variability. The results from the sorting task showed excellent stability between and within subjects. Conversely, the property generation task showed high variability. It is concluded that the tasks involved different types of knowledge. The sorting task appeared to generate good agreement and to involve more stable knowledge. The task of producing properties may involve other mechanisms. This paper discusses the results in light of cognitive and pragmatic theories.