A variation of concept-scale interaction in the semantic differential, labeled concept-component interaction, is discussed. A comparison is made of various methods of analyzing semantic differential data, and an alternative method is introduced which provides evidence of concept-component interaction. Implications for semantic differential measurement are discussed.

Extensive efforts have recently been made to improve the prediction of college academic success by the addition of non-intellective variables to cognitive predictors. Variables studied, alone or in combination with cognitive predictors, have included personality variables [e.g., Grace (1957); Faunce (1966) ]; motivational variables [e.g., Aiken (1964);Reed (1968)]; biographical characteristics [e.g., Astin (1964)] and the interaction of characteristics of the individual and characteristics of the environment [e.g., Astin (1964);Newman (1965);Nasatir (1963)].An additional non-cognitive domain of variables studied are those referred to as "self-concept" variables. The self-concept, representing the individual's general attitude toward himself, is presumed to be a more global variable than specific personality traits, and hence of potential in improving the prediction of academic success. Results of studies relating measures of self-concept to academic success are conflicting. Some studies [e.g., Irwin (1967);Denham (1966);Lum (1960);Stevens (1956);Wyer (1965)] support the hypothesis that measures of self-concept predict academic success; other studies [e.g., Buchin (1965);Cook (1959);Mitchell (1959); Borislow (1962)] do not. These conflicting results are in part due to the many operational definitions of self-concept employed. The same instruments are employed to measure different self-constructs, and the same constructs are measured by different instruments. The existing literature does not afford an understanding of the dimensionality of the self-concept. 321at NORTH DAKOTA STATE UNIV LIB on June 3, 2015 http://aerj.aera.net Downloaded from American Educational Research JournalFurther, methodological weaknesses inherent in published research, including failure to control for intellectual differences and/or sex, have resulted in ambiguous findings. Finally, the criterion of academic success has varied: attrition or achievement have been used as criteria, and, within achievement, both grade point average (GPA) and the difference between expected and actual grades ("under-achievement" and "over-achievement") have been used as criteria.This study was concerned in part with determining the relative efficacy of Self-Descriptions vs. Self-Evaluations, two major domains of the self-concept, as predictors of 'relative academic success'. For both Self-Descriptions and Self-Evaluations, four aspects of the selfconcept were measured: the individual's perception of his past, his future, his real self and his ideal self. These various self-constructs were independently measured and explicitly compared with regard to their ability to predict behavior, thus contributing to a clarification of the dimensionality of the self-concept. Further, the study was concerned with determining the relative efficacy of perception of self (the Phenomenal Self domain) vs. perception of the academic environment (the Phenomenal Environment domain) as predictors of academic success, extending the self-concept research domain to include one's percep...

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