Research article summary (published 30 Aug 2001):

Loose but normal: a semantic association study.

Full Abstract

An abnormal facilitation of the spreading activation within semantic networks is thought to under-lie schizophrenics' remote associations and referential ideas. In normal subjects, elevated magical ideation (MI) has also been associated with a style of thinking similar to that of schizotypal subjects. We thus wondered whether normal subjects with a higher MI score would judge "loose associations" as being more closely related than do subjects with a lower MI score. In two experiments, we investigated whether judgments of the semantic distance between stimulus words varied as a function of MI. In the first experiment, random word pairs of two word classes, animals and fruits, were presented. Subjects had to judge the semantic distance between word pairs. In the second experiment, sets of three words were presented, consisting of a pair of indirectly related, or unrelated nouns plus a third noun. Subjects had to judge the semantic distance of the third noun to the word pair The results of both experiments showed that higher MI subjects considered unrelated words as more closely associated than did lower MI subjects. We conjecture that for normal subjects high on MI "loose associations" may not be loose after all. We also note that the tendency to link uncommon, nonobvious, percepts may not only be the basis of paranormal and paranoid ideas of reference, but also a prerequisite of creative thinking.

Author information

Author/s: Mohr, C (C); Graves, R E (RE); Gianotti, L R (LR); Pizzagalli, D (D); Brugger, P (P);

Affiliation: Department of Neurology, University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland. christine.mohr(-atsign-)nos.usz.ch

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Journal of psycholinguistic research (J Psycholinguist Res), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2001-Sep; vol 30 (issue 5) : pp 475-83

Dates: Created 2001/08/31; Completed 2002/01/10; Revised 2006/11/15;

PMID: 11529423, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adult Association Cognition Creativeness Female Humans

Male Random Allocation Schizotypal Personality Disorder - psychology Semantics Thinking Word Association Tests

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