The impact of domain and subject specialization on knowledge organization

Thematic organization is the association of information that is observed within a given time frame or event, and taxonomic organization is characterized by class membership based on featural overlap. Research in cognitive psychology has suggested a developmental progression in preference from thematic organization to taxonomic organization, with a preference for taxonomic organization seen as cognitively more advanced. However, recent research has found thematic preferences in adults and shown that organizational preference can be influenced by context and experience. This study expanded on previous findings of individual differences and explored preferences across different domains. Specifically, preferences for knowledge organization were measured between student type (history and psychology) and across content type (general and history). The results indicated that history material was more likely to be organized thematically than general material.