Abstract
To test for a possible relation between the concreteness of stimuli and their loadings on Evaluation in the semantic differential, 2 groups of Ss were given from the semantic differential the 13 adjective pairs having the highest loadings on Evaluation and the 13 adjective pairs with the lowest loadings on Evaluation in the Osgood, et al. (1957) studies, and were asked to rate a series of 12 stimuli—3 objects, 3 pictures, and 6 words. The ratios of the variance of the ratings of the adjective pairs with the highest loading on Evaluation (variance on E) to the variance of ratings of pairs with the lowest loading on Evaluation (variance on N) for each of the stimuli were compared with Ss' rankings of the same stimuli on an abstraction-concreteness continuum, r was .645 (p < .05 for 10 df); a second study yielded a comparable value. When variance due to individual differences in abstraction rankings was removed, so that the basis of comparison was the ratio of variance on E to variance on N of the stimulus which S ranked 1 and repeated for each of the ranks 2 to 12, summated over Ss, the obtained r rose to .953 (p < .001 for 10 df). It was concluded that Paivio and Osgood are probably measuring the same phenomenon and calling it by different names. Implications for methodology and SD-based semantic structure theory are drawn.
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