MEDIATED GENERALIZATION AMONG SYNONYMS

A detail of the process of mediated generalization among words was studied. The problem consisted in determining whether generalization would occur to synonyms of a word in amounts corresponding to the closeness of meaning of the synonyms to the original word. Pairs of synonyms with varying degrees of closeness of meaning were prepared on cards and presented to 25 subjects. Each pair consisted of a standard and a stimulus word. The speed with which each subject pronounced each standard word was recorded as his simple reading reaction time. The speed with which each subject gave a free association to each stimulus word was recorded as his free associative reaction time. The results did not demonstrate any significant relationship between the amount of mediated generalization among synonyms and the degree of similarity of meaning between any given word and its synonyms. No significant differences in mean associative reaction times were found between words preceded by their synonyms and words preceded by unrelated words.