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"I can only hope and wish that no one becomes
'Jungian.'"- C. G. Jung
Word-Assocation Test
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"Men are
far more irrational than animals." [Carl Gustav Jung to Pastor Arz, April 10,
1933]
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Here is the "deal" of this page: Just like Carl G. Jung you may study your mental associations to groups of related words (from a long list), and with that as a basis you may very tentatively seek to unmask the quirks, if you find any. This is self-help.
The method presented below is in current use in psychology, where terms differ abundantly. Jung used the method to infer personality traits (he called them inferiority "complexes"). I think we stick to the term quirks here. (Cf. Encyclopedia Britannica, s.v. "Word-association techniques")
Contents
Supporting "well medleys" are presupposed
throughout:Word Tests
From the History of Word-Tests
Sir Francis Galton had used a word-association test as early as 1884 in his ill-fated
"anthropometric laboratory," focussing his attention on the nature of the response words,
and their relationship to the stimulus words. Wundt used such a test in a similar way, and
G. Aschaffenburg and F. Kramer also worked with word-association tests prior to Jung (Cohen
3) (5)Freer Participation
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| You may let dreams have precedence - it is very Jungian. |
TO BE sure what a single dream means, series of dreams, and trends noted in them, are needed for the analysis to proceed. The relationship of the dream to the dreamer is paramount and must take precedence over mere intellectual comparison of the dream to its historical antecedents: "Learn as much as you can about symbolism; then forget it all when you are analyzing a dream." (Cohen 39) ¤
Besides, in his use of Wundt's word-association test, Jung found that uneducated subjects, as well as defective ones, were less superficial and more conditioned by their inner thoughts in their responses, than educated subjects (Cohen 4).
THE ULTIMATE criterion for an interpretation is the satisfaction of the person to whom it pertains. If it "rings true" for him, it has value. Thus, more than one interpretation may be fruitful. (Cohen 39] ¤ [T+]
Stimulus Word List
IN WORD-ASSOCIATION tests the following words are read to the respondent. One is to take notes of long pauses, blanks, great deviations and signs of suffering that may appear - perhaps triggered by some words. The given deviations are next looked into, according to one's ability and stamina, boldness, etc.Administering a word-association test is relatively uncomplicated; a list of words is presented one at a time to the subject who is asked to respond with the first word or idea that comes to mind. Many of the stimulus words may appear to be emotionally neutral (e.g., building, first, tree); of special interest are words that tend to elicit personalized reactions (e.g., mother, hit, love). The amount of time the subject takes before beginning each response and the response itself are used in efforts to analyze a word association test. The idiosyncratic, or unusual, nature of one's word-association responses may be gauged by comparing them to standard published tables of the specific associations given by large groups of other people. - Encyclopedia Britannica, s.v. "Word-association techniques".However, one should not read too much into the surface probings (cf. the words on dreams above). And averaged standard tables may not be too helpful anyway: the brothers Tony and Barry Buzan have shown how very idiosyncratic or personalised many word-associations really are. In a study they found much variance in the associations to many common words.
Buzan and Buzan's Very Interesting Exercise
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| A key word in an oval, with ten lines branching out from it - ready for free associations. [Adjusted from a figure in Buzan and Buzan 64.] |
In a group exercise that strongly resemble how the later Jung welded ideas and wrote himself - his method for interpreting dreams, in fact - the Buzan brothers write the word 'happiness' in a lying oval on a sheet of paper and let ten "tentacles" branch out from it. All members of the group are to fill in quickly, and without pausing to choose, the first ten associations that come to mind when they think of the concept 'happiness'. It is very important to let it be the first words, no matter how ridiculous or embarrassing they may seem.
The exercise, which is not a test, should not take anyone more than one minute. If a single individual wants to do it, he or she may ask two or three other people to do the exercise along with him/her, but none should discuss your word-associations while filling in the words.
After writing the ten first word associations that come to mind in a minute, each participant should predict individually and privately (1) how many words will be common to all members, (2) to all but one members, and (3) how many words will have been chosen by only one person.
Most persons predict that there will be many words common to the whole group, with only a few words unique to any individual, "Yet, after thousands of trials, we have found that for there to be even one word common to all members of a group of four is a rarity." [Emphasis added]
When such a 'common' word is made the centre of another oval where new "tentacles" may branch out from, and the same four people are asked to do the exercise again on this 'common' word, the same thing happens: They associate very differently. And the more people there are in a group, the less chance there is of any one word being common to all the group members.
The brothers inform that "the exercise produces similar results with any word", and also think that the more you educate people, the more unique mental networks of associations they get. (Buzan and Buzan 1995, 64-66)
Soften the Impact, Then
We have just brought together two very different stands on how word-operations function: Common (and obsolete) word-association tests depend on premises where it is thought that some associations are "normal" through being common, more frequent. That should be debated from now on, since word-assocations tests may not be much valid: They are absolutely not confirmed by the interesting exercises of the Buzan brothers: common (and hence normal) word-associations may be rare - may be the exceptions and not the common denominators to build much theory on to "tame individuals that associate more freely". Or, to put it more guardedly,For all that, with these "grains of salt" (reservations), word-association studies may be fun - and could help in some cases due to such as Einfühlung processes and other clues it gives. We have tested it much. And as often in life, it is hardly an "either-or" topic - feel free to use both methods. Jung did too."Every human being is far more individual and unique than has hitherto been surmised." - Buzan and Buzan 68.
A likeness of Tony Buzan In the wider social context, so-called 'delinquent', 'abnormal' or 'eccentric' behaviour may often now be perceived in a new light as 'appropriate divergence from the norm, leading to increased creativity'. - Buzan and Buzan 69.
Appreciating our uniqueness can help . . . - Buzan and Buzan 69.
Now, only a hundred association words are presented in the list below. To give an example: In modern times, where over 70 percent of the marriages in Oklahoma and Sweden break, "home" looks like a potent trigger word - but it is not included in the list of a hundred words. If "home" had been included there, more strong or peculiar responses could have come to the fore and been handled with expertise.
For all that, you could get a few hints to "chew" on.
The stimulus word list below is of the 1908 form and presented by E. Cohen (157-58).
Testee ............. Tester ............. Age ............... Age ............... Sex ................ Sex ................ Date ..............
Stimulus word list
- Head
- Green
- Water
- Sing
- Death
- Long
- Ship
- Count
- Window
- Friendly
- Table
- Question
- Village
- Cold
- Stem
- Dance
- Sea
- Sick
- Proud
- Cook
- Ink
- Evil
- Needle
- Swim
- Trip
- Blue
- Lamp
- Sin
- Bread
- Rich
- Tree
- Stick
- Sympathy
- Yellow
- Mountain
- Die
- Salt
- New
- Moral
- Pray
- Money
- Stupid
- Magazine
- Despise
- Finger
- Expensive
- Bird
- Fall
- Book
- Unjust
- Frog
- Divorce
- Hunger
- White
- Child
- Attend
- Pencil
- Sad
- Prune
- Marry
- House
- Dear
- Glass
- Dispute
- Fur
- Big
- Turnip
- Paint
- Part
- Old
- Flowers
- Hit
- Box
- Wild
- Family
- Wash
- Cow
- Foreign
- Happiness
- Lie
- Decorum
- Close
- Brother
- To fear
- Stork
- Wrong
- Anxiety
- Kiss
- Fiance(e)
- Pure
- Door
- Choose
- Hay
- Satisfied
- Scorn
- Sleep
- Month
- Pretty
- Woman
- Scold
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Adjoined
Buzan, Tony with Barry Buzan. The Mind Map Book. Rev ed. London: BBC Books, 1995.Cohen, Edmund D. C. G. Jung and the Scientific Attitude. New York: Philosophical Library, 1975.
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